Tell Me Something............Anything!

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Just got my JVC cassette deck out of the loft yesterday. Didn't know I had it still. Looking forward to mangling a few cassette tapes!:lol:

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I used to have a JVC DD-5 in the early 90s, with 'blocky' level meters. Really liked it, but I've no idea where it went to. I do know I followed it with the Aiwa model Alex mentioned, which was fine, but no better to my ears.

Early '93, I went into town with £350 to buy an engagement ring. But on the way there I passed the local hifi shop, where they had the JVC reduced from £159 to £99. What to, what to do... I convinced myself that 250 quid was plenty for a ring, so we both benefited that day :)

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I've got a 90's What Hi-Fi? favourite budget Aiwa AD-F410 and at least another older 70's Sony deck I picked up as a job lot with a receiver and speakers - but I have no idea where my cassettes are, or if I even still have any! I did find a handful of blank cassettes a while back, so I suppose I could make some mix tapes. Or maybe not!

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One of my brothers had that Aiwa. I used it to tape all his records. It was okay for the money.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I used to have a JVC DD-5 in the early 90s, with 'blocky' level meters. Really liked it, but I've no idea where it went to. I do know I followed it with the Aiwa model Alex mentioned, which was fine, but no better to my ears.

Early '93, I went into town with £350 to buy an engagement ring. But on the way there I passed the local hifi shop, where they had the JVC reduced from £159 to £99. What to, what to do... I convinced myself that 250 quid was plenty for a ring, so we both benefited that day :)

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Nice story. I have a feeling my JVC has the block type level meters. Haven't switched it on yet, bit nervous after 20 or so years in the loft!:lol:

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Originally Posted by Jimbo

Nice story. I have a feeling my JVC has the block type level meters. Haven't switched it on yet, bit nervous after 20 or so years in the loft!:lol:

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I'm sure it'll be fine. It'll either work or it won't. If it was an amplifier I'd be more wary.

Shamelessly stolen from the “Flexipop” Facebook group, NME January 1984, Lemmy reviews the week’s single releases.

And an advert for “Discline” I’d forgotten you could do that! Wasn’t there one called dial-a-disc, or is this the same thing?

Bhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8fe6409fba.jpg

Some classics there. 'They call heavy metal 'moronic' but this makes it sound like Sibelius' lol

The good old days, where did they go?

''I can't sleep without Bunneh!''

Well here's an idea, sweetheart. Why don't you run down and get 'Bunneh' instead of it taking me 25 minutes there and back on the pissing Stannah Stairlift?

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Originally Posted by Macca

''I can't sleep without Bunneh!''

Well here's an idea, sweetheart. Why don't you run down and get 'Bunneh' instead of it taking me 25 minutes there and back on the pissing Stannah Stairlift?

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But then Bunny can't sleep without the other one, sending dopey over-indulging grandpa back to the Stannah :steam: Cheaper than a stairlift, they should "medicate" the little shitbag's milk 'n' cookies.

The ad is one of many that target folk of a certain age who just want to be left to watch The Sweeney and Kojak in peace, others being travel insurance for the nearly-dead and the impossible-to-avoid Pure Cremation plans. And don't forget to leave a gift in your will to [insert charity name].

The Sweeny was cancelled for the racing yesterday. They don't cancel 'Boon' though even though it's crap.

I wouldn't mind as I often used to watch the racing even if I didn't have a bet on. Chilled afternoon's viewing. Horses run, middle age men stand under umbrellas discussing form.

Now though it kicks off with some woman literally yelling at you about how exciting it's all going to be. Cancelled.

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Originally Posted by Macca

Now though it kicks off with some woman literally yelling at you about how exciting it's all going to be. Cancelled.

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That's probably to make up for having a male presenter for years who apparently routinely put down his wife and called her booby.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

..................

The ad is one of many that target folk of a certain age who just want to be left to watch The Sweeney and Kojak in peace, others being travel insurance for the nearly-dead and the impossible-to-avoid Pure Cremation plans. And don't forget to leave a gift in your will to [insert charity name].

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Advertisers pay for the screening time and duration of their adverts, so as to reach the watching audience who they think will be interested. That's the problem with ALL the commercial channels, and is why I tend to watch BBC1, 2, 3 and 4. However I do, from time to time, watch Great TV (for 'Mash'), ITV3 (for 'Doc Martin') and Legend, Legend Xtra, Talking Pictures TV, and Film4 for films.

This afternoon I watched "Reach for the Sky", starring Kenneth More (Yes I know he tends to play "Jolly Good Chaps", but it is a well made and unsentimental film about the Battle of Britain). When the adverts come on I press the mute button on the remote and go and make a cup of tea! )

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Originally Posted by Barry

starring Kenneth More )

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Good when he's in supporting roles or ensemble casts, like 'Sink The Bismarck'. When he's the star the films are almost unwatchable for me.

Like 'The Admirable Crichton' or his version of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps'. Even the BBC version of that from a few years back now isn't as bad as his.

I don't think I have seen Kenneth More in 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', but I think 'The Admirable Crichton' is a reasonably good film; not so much because of Moore's central character, but as a critique of the rigid class system operating at the time.

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Originally Posted by Barry

I don't think I have seen Kenneth More in 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', but I think 'The Admirable Crichton' is a reasonably good film; not so much because of Moore's central character, but as a critique of the rigid class system operating at the time.

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It's a good story but the film is terrible in a number of ways, not just because of Moore.

Moore or More?

We have been in London for the last few days. Today we had to visit an office not far from King's Cross station on business. Afterwards we were feeling hungry and spotted a likely-looking place to have a late lunch.

We entered and were immediately met by a security guard, who asked us of our business. I replied that we wanted to eat in the restaurant and was told it was the staff canteen for employees of Universal Music Group only.

I said I was a music reviewer for the Art of Sound forum and my credentials could be obtained by typing my name into Genesis. Having done so, we were allowed to eat in the canteen as guests.

(Actually the last paragraph is a gross exaggeration, but as obvious-looking senior citizens were allowed to eat in the canteen as a matter of courtesy. :) )

Was the meal any good?

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Originally Posted by Barry

We have been in London for the last few days. Today we had to visit an office not far from King's Cross station on business. Afterwards we were feeling hungry and spotted a likely-looking place to have a late lunch.

We entered and were immediately met by a security guard, who asked us of our business. I replied that we wanted to eat in the restaurant and was told it was the staff canteen for employees of Universal Music Group only.

I said I was a music reviewer for the Art of Sound forum and my credentials could be obtained by typing my name into Genesis. Having done so, we were allowed to eat in the canteen as guests.

(Actually the last paragraph is a gross exaggeration, but as obvious-looking senior citizens were allowed to eat in the canteen as a matter of courtesy. :) )

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Not an exaggeration at all, 'music reviewer' sounds about right, though typing your name into Genesis probably won't throw up anything flattering. Peter Gabriel maybe :)

Ah yes, it was "Gemini" wasn't it, not Genesis! Anyway if the security guard wasn't impressed by any mention of Peter Gabriel, I could have said I was related to Jeremy Dammers, formerly of The Specials, which is true. :)

That is pretty cool, I'd be impressed enough to let you in. I don't have any such claims to fame, though I did once survive riding a hotel lift with Gary Glitter. I might have been outside his target demographic.

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Originally Posted by Macca

Was the meal any good?

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Yes it was very good for a staff canteen. We had an egg salad each, chocolate muffin for dessert and a cup of coffee. All for about £12.

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Originally Posted by Barry

Yes it was very good for a staff canteen. We had an egg salad each, chocolate muffin for dessert and a cup of coffee. All for about £12.

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There was a fantastic staff canteen where I used to work, belonged to another company in the same building. They subsidised it, but they let us use it. Really good food and very cheap.

Our company wouldn't even spring for tea and coffee despite being wealthier than most countries. Only lasted a couple of years though as the other company had to shut down when they lost their two big contracts.

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Originally Posted by Macca

There was a fantastic staff canteen where I used to work, belonged to another company in the same building. They subsidised it, but they let us use it. Really good food and very cheap.

Our company wouldn't even spring for tea and coffee despite being wealthier than most countries. Only lasted a couple of years though as the other company had to shut down when they lost their two big contracts.

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I suppose that's the thing when a company is reliant upon one or two big customers. The printing company I used to work for was in a similar position - their main customer (Beechams) probably provided 30% of our work, and didn't they know it... Everyone else's work took a back seat when Beechams decided on a deadline. And probably told us how much they were paying too. Glad I'm away from all that nonsense.

Actually 'Yesterday in History', but the post disappeared due to technical problem.



March 13, 1731
Astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus.

March 13, !881
Alexander II of Russia was assassinated in St. Petersburg.

March 13, 1925
The US state of Tennessee, passed a bill that banned Darwin's theory of evolution in schools.

March 13, 1927
The lance ceased to be an official weapon in the British Army.

March 13. 1935
Driving tests were introduced.

March 13, 1938
Hitler annexed Austria.

March 13, 1970
18-year-olds were allowed to vote for the first time. In another first, ballot papers were marked with the name of the candidate and the party for a by-election in Bridgwater, Somerset.

I know that when it comes to space travel, form must follow function, but does NASA's Artemis II rocket (catchily called the Space Launch System or SLS) have to be so ugly?

The polyurethane foam applied is there to insulate the fuel tanks from ambient temperatures, but turns orange when exposed to UV light (like the expanding foam I use in my work). Just makes the rocket look rusty.

In the late 60s the Saturn V rocket used for the Apollo missions was a thing of beauty, and every kid wanted a model of it (I had one). I wonder how many kids will want one of SLS? We'll see.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standar...v2-nc.png.webp

Oh and the cost of this mission is around $90 billion. That's enough to greatly improve the live of all Americans who werrn't daft enough to vote for the Trump.

It might be worth the money to send Trump into outer space! :lol:

:D Yes that would be a bargain. It's a four-seater, so room for JD Vance, Hegseth, and that no-brain Barbie Leavitt too.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I know that when it comes to space travel, form must follow function, but does NASA's Artemis II rocket (catchily called the Space Launch System or SLS) have to be so ugly?

The polyurethane foam applied is there to insulate the fuel tanks from ambient temperatures, but turns orange when exposed to UV light (like the expanding foam I use in my work). Just makes the rocket look rusty.

In the late 60s the Saturn V rocket used for the Apollo missions was a thing of beauty, and every kid wanted a model of it (I had one). I wonder how many kids will want one of SLS? We'll see.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standar...v2-nc.png.webp

Oh and the cost of this mission is around $90 billion. That's enough to greatly improve the live of all Americans who werrn't daft enough to vote for the Trump.

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I think that only works out at 260 dollars per American unless I used too many zeros. Or not enough.

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Originally Posted by Macca

I think that only works out at 260 dollars per American unless I used too many zeros. Or not enough.

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Yes, I calculate it to be $262.34 per capita. (90 billion divided by 343 million)

Launching Trump and some other Project 2025 fanatics would be much better value for money.

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Originally Posted by Macca

I think that only works out at 260 dollars per American unless I used too many zeros. Or not enough.

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No, I think you're about right. But I did say it should go to those who weren't daft enough to vote for Trump. So roughly double that. The Trump voters can go into the woods and shoot some food instead.

But anyway, Barry's idea makes more sense.

Today's Metro paper published one of the best April Fool joke ever. The article, purporting to be from the retail outlet Asda, notified their intended introduction of adult-sized trolly seats, obviously based on the observation that small children like to ride in supermarket trollies. The new design features a comfy armchair, a cup holder and a built-in phone holder for hands-free scrolling. :lol:

On TV earlier this week, a news item about a shitload of teenagers storming an M&S store for a bit of flash mob antisocial behaviour, apparently organised via social media. Then yesterday a report about the increased number of attacks on teachers by pupils.

As usual we had lots of hand wringing, with no real solutions suggested. I think that to arrive at a solution, we must first ask ourselves what has changed in the last 50 years or so:

Back then, did we have social media? No.

Did we have the option of corporal punishment available to the police and educators? Yes.

Did the ingredients of our everyday food originate in the ground rather than a laboratory? Yes.

Did the kids get to play outside in the sunshine and fresh air while learning about the laws of physics, (falling out of a tree is gonna hurt), as opposed to killing aliens with a joystick-operated lethal weapon in the comfort of their bedroom? Yes.

There will be other changes. And I don't believe any of them are for the better.

When I was a kid, adults were in charge. Now I'm grown up it's kids that seem to be in charge. We never got a turn :(

Oh and we need to stop calling them students. They're pupils.

Social media has a lot to answer for.
Since the advent of the smartphone it seems that everyone is glued to it all the time. When outdoors you see them walking along looking at the screen without watching where they are going, whether it is on the pavement, or even crossing the road. When I drive in London having to be extra vigilant and aware of these jaywalkers is quite stressful. When travelling on the Underground, I often look around to see if there is anyone who is not using their phone: if there are they are a very small minority.

But to return to the increasing antisocial behaviour of adolescents, you are right, it is exacerbated by social media. If you browse the Web, the AI used in the search engine remembers your search history, and remembers the specific sites you have visited. Repeated visits to the same site will cause the AI to suggest and recommend similar sites, which, depending on the site can be more troubling and potentially dangerous to vulnerable teenagers.

The owners of the search engines really do need to take responsibility, police these sites, and if need be ban the undesirable ones. But they won't because it would cost them money, and so they come up with flimsy excuse of it being an infringement of free speech!

Spent the morning metal detecting. Found the handle of a spoon. Old, possibly Georgian.


https://iili.io/BS7UoFt.md.jpg

4 mile walk home afterwards, but it was fun.

I've always quite fancied having a go at that, apart from the digging. And looks like the weather wasn't too bad. We quite regularly get decent hordes of coins and stuff found around these parts, so definitely worth a go!

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I've always quite fancied having a go at that, apart from the digging. And looks like the weather wasn't too bad. We quite regularly get decent hordes of coins and stuff found around these parts, so definitely worth a go!

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It was cold and windy but it didn't rain and the sun came out for about the last half hour we were there.

One of the blokes who was there found a half-sovereign a while back, not at the location we were at today though.

My other find was a flattened Carling Black Label can. I had high hopes for that too as the detector was going ballistic.

I've found 5 old horseshoes and 3 bells tied together as a some sort of 'warning' for cattle, in the garden, all without the aid of a metal detector. I will buy myself a detector sometime as the house is mid 15th century, backing onto fields. Must be something out there.

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Originally Posted by hifi_dave

I've found 5 old horseshoes and 3 bells tied together as a some sort of 'warning' for cattle, in the garden, all without the aid of a metal detector. I will buy myself a detector sometime as the house is mid 15th century, backing onto fields. Must be something out there.

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Got to be, might at least find some coins assuming it hasn't ever been swept before.

Where we were today we know no-one's ever been on it. They're doing a Roman road tomorrow, I could have stayed overnight and gone on that but typically tomorrow is the only day this year where I have something I have to do.

Do you need a licence, or prior permission from the landowner, or can anyone have a go? And I'm assuming you can't automatically keep anything you find.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

Do you need a licence, or prior permission from the landowner, or can anyone have a go? And I'm assuming you can't automatically keep anything you find.

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You don't need a licence, you should have permission. In this case one of the bloke's family owned the place. Up for sale which is why he's covering it while he still can.

For what you can keep you have to look up the Treasure Act 1996. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Act_1996

had to check on my state pension, turns out I have 37 years contributions so I've gone 2 years over. You don't get any extra for that though.

Good job they count the years you were a student or on the dole or I'd be well shy!

Yes, I was a student for seven years, but when I started work I paid in extra to give me an enhanced state pension. I also paid into a private pension scheme. Not only that, but I took voluntary redundancy which came with a generous payout. So overall I was able to comfortably 'retire' at age 57.

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Originally Posted by Macca

had to check on my state pension, turns out I have 37 years contributions so I've gone 2 years over. You don't get any extra for that though.

Good job they count the years you were a student or on the dole or I'd be well shy!

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So you're covered for student years, employed years and unemployed years - must be pretty hard not to qualify.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

So you're covered for student years, employed years and unemployed years - must be pretty hard not to qualify.

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I think only if you opted out of NI contributions while self-employed. Or you were not working and too wealthy to claim benefits.

My neighbour is 66 and only gets a partial state pension, told me he was 4 years shy on contributions and it would cost him 7 grand to have made them up which he hasn't got.

I don't know how he is 4 years short. Known him since he was 30 and he's never been self-employed. He was in the Civil Service for about 20 years I think.

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Originally Posted by Barry

Yes, I was a student for seven years, but when I started work I paid in extra to give me an enhanced state pension. I also paid into a private pension scheme. Not only that, but I took voluntary redundancy which came with a generous payout. So overall I was able to comfortably 'retire' at age 57.

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I retired at 57 as well Barry - I suspect you beat me to it though, as it wasn't until November of my retirement year :)

I worked a total of 50 years (30 years employed, then 20 years self-employed, with a three-week unemployed bit in the middle). The first few years self employed I didn't pay any NI contributions - I did end up with full pension, though I did worry about it for a while.

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Originally Posted by Pigmy Pony

I worked a total of 50 years (30 years employed, then 20 years self-employed, with a three-week unemployed bit in the middle). The first few years self employed I didn't pay any NI contributions - I did end up with full pension, though I did worry about it for a while.

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Only 3 weeks unemployed? I had a full two years, wonderful times. Well, mostly. Plus 5 years at university. I was 25 before I was unfortunate enough to get a proper job. :D

I'm 57, and no chance of retiring just yet! Well, I could if we downsized the house and sold the kids, but they're past the cute stage now and I don't think you get as much for teenagers!

I did used to dread the thought of retiring, as I am not sure I could cope with the spare time, but the older I get the more appealing it becomes! I am sure there would be plenty of stuff around the house I could procrastinate over whilst drinking coffee...

(And I have never been unemployed in 41 years - I did quit one job in my early 20's, but went straight to an agency and did temping for a few months until I found something permanent.)

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Originally Posted by Alex_UK

I did used to dread the thought of retiring, as I am not sure I could cope with the spare time, but the older I get the more appealing it becomes! I am sure there would be plenty of stuff around the house I could procrastinate over whilst drinking coffee...

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For the first couple of weeks after retiring (at 57), I didn't know what to do with all the free time. OK I got out of bed a bit later than I had when working, but that still left a lot of time. I would deliberately not do a full shopping so as to give me an excuse to go out again! Daft I know.

Eventually I found things to do: gardening; redecorating the house, going up to Lonfon to visit the museums and art galleries - and of course joining AoS. :)