HO HO and, indeed, HO!
Week from Monday 16th December 2024 - I had my scheduled telephone chat with the KIDNEY PEOPLE up at the Horse Piddle. My latest blood test shows an okay "U&E" but my "eGFR" is still fairly low "for someone my age". Apparently, I don't drink enough WATER. I just pee it out. They gave me a target of TWO LITRES PER DAY, which sounds to me an extraordinary amount when I think about it. You know those little 250mL bottles of water you get at the supermarket? Then imagine EIGHT of those. PER DAY?!? But who am I to question the experts? I'll just spend ALL night in the bathroom, shall I?
(By the way, "U&E" means "Urea and Electrolytes" and "eGFR" means "Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate". So now you know.)
I went for a shopping trip into town, where I availed myself of Uncut magazine's "KING CRIMSON: THE ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE". Nearly twelve quid is rather expensive for what, let's face it, is just a magazine. But HEY! it's Xmas! you have to treat yerself, don'tcha?
TURKEYS AT CHRISTMAS... It is official. There is FAR too much CHRISTMAS MUSIC on Radio 3 at the moment. It's getting on my nerves, I can't bear it... Also, I fully anticipate that the available choice of TELEVISION over the holiday period will be DIRE as usual, so I've been saving up a few duff movies on the digibox for alternative yuletide viewing. In particular, there's been a few stinkers shown on TALKING PICTURES TV in recent weeks, most of which have listings in Harry and Michael Medved's invaluable reference tomes "THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS", "SON OF GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS" and "THE FIFTY WORST MOVIES OF ALL TIME". The legendary "Plan Nine From Outer Space" was on just a few weeks ago, and I'm looking forward to several hours gazing in openmouthed awe at such masterpieces as "Bride Of The Monster", "The Giant Claw" and "Voyage To The Planet Of Prehistoric Women", all of which come highly recommended by the Medveds.
Week from Monday 23rd December 2024 - OBLIGATED MERRIMENT TIME... As you must have realised by now, I don't really 'do' Christmas. I don't believe in magical beardyblokes of ANY persuasion. I don't drink anymore and I prefer to stay clear of folks who do. I don't 'party' and I don't eat dead birds. I also avoid kids whenever possible, so it's really NOT MEANT FOR ME. Anyone who knows me has learnt to stop inviting me to anything years ago. Of course, I do welcome the 'WINTERVAL' holiday, but I merely use it to chill while fairm'ly types get on with whatever it is they feel compelled to do. Years ago, 'EMBRACING THE SOLITUDE' often meant going on a long walk somewhere on Xmas day, or visiting distant friends for the duration, but obviously I can't do THAT anymore! Instead, I can take advantage of the empty house and CRANK UP the music or a loud movie or two. Nowadays, my only diary entry for Christmas Eve reads "REMEMBER TO COLLECT YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS". I wake up on Christmas morning, measure my blood pressure, take my meds and make a cup of coffee. Just like every other morning, really...
I found a rather good 'sixties EMI recording (Berlin Philharmonic/Sir John Barbirolli) of MAHLER's NINTH in a charity shop. Nowadays, no longer the AUDIOPHILE, I think that older pre-digital recordings suit my FUNNY EARS better, as they tend to be less 'dynamic'. You often find that the quiet bits are much TOO quiet and the loud bits are TOO loud on 'modern' CDs. 'Live' RADIO broadcasts of one's favourite pieces can also prove to be a bit disappointing on the AUDIO front, depending on the quality of the orchestra and the whim of the sound engineers. So ANALOGUE recordings that have been properly remastered to suit present day formats ("ADD") tend to be my performances of choice with BIG orchestral works.
I watched a couple of old HAMMER FILMS... Although the stories and the dialogue were generally pretty daft as you might expect, I was struck by how good they LOOKED. The cimematography (Technicolor?) was rather beautiful. Compare and contrast with the DIGITAL monstrosities that Marvel et al churn out these days. The sets are often so BADLY LIT and grey looking, you can barely make out what's happening at times; The talking is too QUIET, while the sound effects and music are too LOUD; The screen is SO saturated with CGI that you can't BELIEVE in anything anymore, because you are aware that you are watching an ANIMATION the whole time.
Boxing Day, and just for 'summat t'do', I'm watching an "INDIANA JONES" movie for the umpteenth time and playing 'SPOT THE CONTINUITY ERRORS'...
(By the way, "U&E" means "Urea and Electrolytes" and "eGFR" means "Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate". So now you know.)
I went for a shopping trip into town, where I availed myself of Uncut magazine's "KING CRIMSON: THE ULTIMATE MUSIC GUIDE". Nearly twelve quid is rather expensive for what, let's face it, is just a magazine. But HEY! it's Xmas! you have to treat yerself, don'tcha?
TURKEYS AT CHRISTMAS... It is official. There is FAR too much CHRISTMAS MUSIC on Radio 3 at the moment. It's getting on my nerves, I can't bear it... Also, I fully anticipate that the available choice of TELEVISION over the holiday period will be DIRE as usual, so I've been saving up a few duff movies on the digibox for alternative yuletide viewing. In particular, there's been a few stinkers shown on TALKING PICTURES TV in recent weeks, most of which have listings in Harry and Michael Medved's invaluable reference tomes "THE GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS", "SON OF GOLDEN TURKEY AWARDS" and "THE FIFTY WORST MOVIES OF ALL TIME". The legendary "Plan Nine From Outer Space" was on just a few weeks ago, and I'm looking forward to several hours gazing in openmouthed awe at such masterpieces as "Bride Of The Monster", "The Giant Claw" and "Voyage To The Planet Of Prehistoric Women", all of which come highly recommended by the Medveds.
Week from Monday 23rd December 2024 - OBLIGATED MERRIMENT TIME... As you must have realised by now, I don't really 'do' Christmas. I don't believe in magical beardyblokes of ANY persuasion. I don't drink anymore and I prefer to stay clear of folks who do. I don't 'party' and I don't eat dead birds. I also avoid kids whenever possible, so it's really NOT MEANT FOR ME. Anyone who knows me has learnt to stop inviting me to anything years ago. Of course, I do welcome the 'WINTERVAL' holiday, but I merely use it to chill while fairm'ly types get on with whatever it is they feel compelled to do. Years ago, 'EMBRACING THE SOLITUDE' often meant going on a long walk somewhere on Xmas day, or visiting distant friends for the duration, but obviously I can't do THAT anymore! Instead, I can take advantage of the empty house and CRANK UP the music or a loud movie or two. Nowadays, my only diary entry for Christmas Eve reads "REMEMBER TO COLLECT YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS". I wake up on Christmas morning, measure my blood pressure, take my meds and make a cup of coffee. Just like every other morning, really...
I found a rather good 'sixties EMI recording (Berlin Philharmonic/Sir John Barbirolli) of MAHLER's NINTH in a charity shop. Nowadays, no longer the AUDIOPHILE, I think that older pre-digital recordings suit my FUNNY EARS better, as they tend to be less 'dynamic'. You often find that the quiet bits are much TOO quiet and the loud bits are TOO loud on 'modern' CDs. 'Live' RADIO broadcasts of one's favourite pieces can also prove to be a bit disappointing on the AUDIO front, depending on the quality of the orchestra and the whim of the sound engineers. So ANALOGUE recordings that have been properly remastered to suit present day formats ("ADD") tend to be my performances of choice with BIG orchestral works.
I watched a couple of old HAMMER FILMS... Although the stories and the dialogue were generally pretty daft as you might expect, I was struck by how good they LOOKED. The cimematography (Technicolor?) was rather beautiful. Compare and contrast with the DIGITAL monstrosities that Marvel et al churn out these days. The sets are often so BADLY LIT and grey looking, you can barely make out what's happening at times; The talking is too QUIET, while the sound effects and music are too LOUD; The screen is SO saturated with CGI that you can't BELIEVE in anything anymore, because you are aware that you are watching an ANIMATION the whole time.
Boxing Day, and just for 'summat t'do', I'm watching an "INDIANA JONES" movie for the umpteenth time and playing 'SPOT THE CONTINUITY ERRORS'...
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