Helped myself to a bit of retro LCD fun. At £8.25 including delivery on eBay, I was half expecting it to be a fake!



_{.. and actually, it is}

Wordle 1,061 4/6*

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A minute or so.

Showers were forecast for the afternoon at about 1600 but I was keen to add some distance to the May tally, so I resolved to tolerate it. Last time I did that, instead of the light shower I expected, I got rained on for half an hour. This time, I didn't get rained on at all! The sky went ominously dark grey for half an hour at about 1630, but it didn't follow through on its threat.

A bit windy, not quite so warm as of late. I did a Twycrosser, with the added twist that I went east to Kirkby Mallory after Cadeby, to take in the last 12 miles of the return leg of the southbound route.



Back on 41.86. 318 this month now which is more than good enough for half way through May.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11411543098

This is a photo that I took in Wales in March, on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.



The camera (actually a Samsung phone) was only about 20 - 30 metres above sea level when this was taken. But I wondered if I'd be able to see the curve of the horizon if I compressed the pic sideways, like this (image is cropped but shows the whole breadth of the first image):



Although it's tempting to blame the curvature present in the image on lens distortion, I don't think that's the case here. The horizon was actually slightly below the centre of the image, so any barrel distortion would tend to suppress the curve, not exaggerate it. However I have no idea how to do the maths for the degree of curvature you'd expect to see from that elevation. So I suspect that is just an exaggerated view of the Earth's curvature.

Anyone any thoughts?

The "Arsenal Ultras" on a special forces mission:

https://twitter.com/AwayDays_/status/1790260639018918369

Update from Sam Altman -

Wordle 1,060 4/6*

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6 or 7 mins. Sneaky one.

3:5

I'd got about halfway through this one thinking it was below par, but it picks up nicely after that. There's an overlong sketch about the Fire Brigade in the first half that's pleasingly, very imaginatively surreal without being overly funny. Graham Chapman appears blacked up in full tribal dress in this one, doing a comedy West Indian accent.

I don't remember ever having seen this episode though I think I must have. But lots of the material from the latter half is familiar from the albums - especially a dialogue between Idle and Palin, in which Idle plays someone who can't say the letter C, and substitutes B instead. The line "What a silly bunt", present on the Live at Drury Lane version is not present here. Idle goes into a long, ranting monologue about package holidays and Watney's Red Barrel, again fondly remembered from the live album. Must have taken him weeks to memorise. Classic Eric Idle material.

I think the closing piece, regarding Anne Elk's theory on brontosauruses, is also present on one of the albums. Certainly I remembered that one very well.

Wordle 1,059 4/6*

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About half an hour!

If they get beaten on the last day, Forest will stay up with 29 points.

Who's Next [August 1971]

Although I'd known about Townshend's abandoned (or long-postponed) Lifehouse project for a long time, I didn't realise until I did a bit of background reading that this album had been salvaged from it. It doesn't feel like a concept album, still less a rock opera. Although it flows nicely, it comes across as a collection of songs in the usual manner.

Glyn Johns was brought in to produce it and I think he does a brilliant job, mostly - Daltrey's vocals have a bit of reverb and sound full, powerful and clear. Townshend's trademark powerchords sound great, plenty of attack and gain but musical at the same time. Everything sounds powerful and lush.

Interestingly on Baba O'Riley and Bargain Pete's guitar is a little bit subdued in the mix, it sounds a little bit atmospheric and distant and this works really well to bring the bass and drums to the fore.

I really liked all the tunes on here but the classics are the standouts for sure - Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes - and the brilliant Won't Get Fooled Again where Pete's crashing power chords are much more prominent, emphasising the inherent astringent anger of the song.

If the album has a weak spot, perhaps it's Entwistle's My Wife. It's a spirited ditty that the big man sings himself, but really it's crying out for two things - for Daltrey to sing it instead, and for Pete's guitar to be a bit louder and more in-yer-face. They really could have squeezed more juice out of it.

Here and there the synth parts on the album sound very dated.

I was really interested to hear The Song Is Over, which has a pleasing '80s stadium rock feel to it - definitely ahead of its time.

Surely the most distinctive element of the whole album is the long, hypnotic, repeating intro to Baba O'Riley. It sounds like a sequencer but apparently it's a late '60s Lowrey "home electronic organ" with some sort of auto-note-repeating function built in, hooked up to a synth. Years ago on his Saturday morning show on 5 Live, Danny Baker interviewed Glyn Johns, who described how Pete had recorded it as a demo at his home studio. Glyn was so impressed with it that he didn't attempt to redo it, he just transferred the demo recording to 16-track tape and that's what you hear on the record.

I think it's a good thing that the band put out a relatively straightforward album in the time-honoured format, rather than another concept album. It's a strong selection of powerful, melodic and in some cases brilliant songs, with subtly contrasting styles and plenty of light and shade.

I also listened to some of the bonus tracks that come with the CD edition. There's a live cut called Water that's very good - it's remarkably reminiscent of Led Zeppelin - but the most notable thing is that Townshend is right in the zone, he plays some really tasty blues lead guitar as well as bringing it with the usual crisp power chordage. Jimmy Page would have been proud, and Daltrey clearly tries to channel Robert Plant at one point. Great stuff.

Rain was forecast for the afternoon but it was a lovely morning, so - clothed once again in minimal cycling gear - I set off at about 1000, with the intention of doing about 35.

I was going to do about 17 miles of the usual eastbound route then come back the same way, but before I got to the junction at Zouch I took a left through Long Whatton, toward Diseworth. I had the idea of going into Loughborough, which I haven't done for a long time.

Before long though I realised I was actually going in the opposite direction of Loughborough, but I decided to keep going, just in the spirit of maintaining momentum.

At Diseworth I took a right turn I hadn't taken before, signposted to the airport. Nice little road, nothing special and less than a mile later I was on the A453, running south of the airport. I'd only done 13 miles by this time so I was struggling to think what to do to make up the miles I wanted. I probably should just have kept on going rather than take the left near Zouch.

I took the road down past Breedon, then went north toward Melbourne, then took the road to Ticknall from there - which I haven't done for at least a year. I chickened out of Bastard Hill and came home via Hartshorne, Woodville, Ashby.

Really a lovely ride over the first half. I spoiled it over the second half by giving myself too much hill climbing to do.

I listened to The Who's Who's Next.

Back on 37.04. I didn't get rained on and in fact hours after I returned home, still no sign of rain. Just warm sunshine. Annoying, as if I'd know I'd have done a fondo. But at the moment next weekend looks clear.

https://www.strava.com/activities/11393253252

Quote from: The Picnic Wasp on May 11, 2024, 12:10:20 PM

Quote from: Matt2112 on May 11, 2024, 12:04:35 PMSlightly annoyed seeing all the spectacular pictures taken barely two miles from my village of last night's Aurora Borealis.

From the field I viewed it from I could see only a silver, ghostly glow emanating from Bootes - none of the other colours of the spectrum. 

Maybe I'll have more luck tonight.

My neighbour went to Loch Lomond last night to escape light pollution to an extent. He said most of it appeared just as a wavy glow, but his iPhone photos on night mode display all the colours. Wish I knew how to post them here, they are excellent.

Posted here

From Loch Lomond, as forwarded to me by Picnic, taken by his neighbour.

Wordle 1,058 5/6*

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Interesting one, 6 or 7 mins.