Thursday, May 26, 2011
Steve: Rush
Yes let's not talk about Rush, I'm too traumatised after all of that waiting. I have emailed the O2 to see if they can pass it on to whoever was responsible. Worst I've ever heard.
Just trying out my new Xperia X8 phone camera at lunchtime and saw this - it's a Maybach whatever that is. Didn't have time to do any close-ups with the rain drops and it's only a camera-phone!
Seems like we have a definitive bike-scheme ruling with a table of what we have to pay to buy it so hopefully no funny business with the P11D! I was with someone who will be getting a Hardrock on the scheme soon.
- 5:02 pm
Comments:
nick: Have been helping Ella with a psychology assignment, and pointed her to the notes I made from when I did my evening course.
Just had a text from her "Can you delete your webpage of [sic] the internet so I can use it? I haven't copied it exactly...And then I'll get my pass, and you can put it back up in about 3 weeks.."
Tim: I know we're not talking about Rush, but a quick surf finds other people unimpressed with the sound, e.g. comments on here:http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3771:rush-o2-arena&Itemid=27
nick: ..yes.. although I did find a fair number of people who thought the sound was OK, so maybe it's just where we were sitting. Or maybe they're all cotton-eared.
I watched the DVD of "Beyond the Lighted Stage" - pretty enjoyable but I'm not sure it was that great a film, and couldn't see why it had won awards. It seemed a fairly standard history-of-a-rock-band to me, with home movies of the boys when they were young, bits of concert footage, interviews with the band and entourage, and "famous" talking heads going on about how they think Rush are underrated.
Good to see them though, and to see that they do appear to enjoy doing what they do.
Steve: Thanks very much for good link into the sound complaints, I had a bit of a look but you struck paydirt! I did email the O2 and got a nice reply back but (I had said that I didn't think it was becessarily the O2's fault) I need to take it up with the promoter which I will do now that I see the number of comments, means writing a letter though... Was a nice review though.
nick: Have been leaving food out for the birds and using the RSPB Bird Identifier to see who's been eating it, and seem to be getting more different ones every day. So ar, it's been loads of starlings (including young ones who come and sit and wait to be fed by parents), sparrows, bluetits, blackbirds, pigeons, doves, robin, chaffinch, magpie and, yesterday, for the first time, a jackdaw (I didn't need RSBP for that one, thanks Steve). I think I may have some other finch type birds too.
Tim: Nick, you sound like you've never seen a bird before. Good identifier though.
Are we doing stuff next weekend?
Steve: Yes he's gone a bit mental over birds, to anyone who has watched the early episodes of the Sopranos it's classic anxiety symptoms.
Can't see Liverpool but it is put aside apparently according to Deb so we could do a London ride or the Reading one?
Tim: I'm game for anything. What day(s) should I set aside? If we can sketch (lovely word) a plan out I'll be in business.
Tim: Yes, looks like all except the final, just as expected. So that'll be a few days touring Coventry/Manchester/Newcastle.
On the symphony thing, er, are there any decent cheap seats?
Steve: I'm happy to come down that way, D is out on the Sunday so I should see her a bit on the Saturday I guess. Maybe ride on Sunday in or to London?
Don;t mind about the gig - we did see the 9th a while ago, maybe Tim is hinting at that, I'm happy faffing and laughing at Nick's album collection.
Tim: It didn't look unmissable to me. But anyway, I've registered on the Anvil ticket site to have a look, and there don't seem to be any decent cheap seats.
The Ghost and Mrs Muir then?
Steve: I can get there for about 2-3PM. BTW I did a recce of jackets in Debenhams for you Nick, if you look at pretty well any from Jeff Banks or John Rocha I would have thought you'd be fine - not cheap though, maybe wait for the sale?
BTW that play looks a bit terrible? I have spent a while searching for gigs in Hampshire for that date and can see nothing suitable.
Steve: Ah yes the Chaplin one is amazing. Almost as good as Boy George and Freddy Mercury! Listening to Liza Minelli on the Graham Norton show, she was dropping names like Elvis into the conversation. I knew Dali had worked with Disney.
nick: Sorry I have been a bit distracted and not replied on blog.
So am I right in saying you're planning on getting here on Saturday afternoon Steve? (You said "I can get there for about 2-3PM" but for some reason I have in my mind that you might have meant Friday).
Which would mean Sunday for the ride (or something).
You're both welcome to stay Saturday night if you want.
"Ghost and Mrs Muir" doesn't look great, although I thought Steve might be keen because it's got Anna Brecon in, and she looks like she might be his type...
Tim: I read it as Saturday afternoon, so I'll plan to get there about the same time, cycling from MD.
Steve: My type! I even searched for gigs in Hampshire but got nowhere. I confirm I am coming on the Saturday, not the Friday. And thought riding would be Sunday yes.
(Put this in the box yesterday and forgot to hit Publish.)
Tim: Got home half an hour ago, discovered on the short ride from the station that MY ARSE HURTS. Other than that, good day out cheers. Apparently weather has been filth all day here.
nick: Yes, good day out - legs feel a bit tired today though.
Shame the weather was so poor as it detracted from enjoying all the sights.
Good job I had two coats to wear when cycling back from Micheldever - it was raining quite a lot!
nick: This was the sort of thing I was thinking of Steve, except you want one that doesn't rely on flash. Surely Tim can knock one up in ASP or HTML5 or something?
Steve: Er yes I couldn't get on with it very well either. BTW we have a customer whose name gives me a jolt when I see it: Alexander Bachurin.
Legs were a bit achy yesterday from trying to keep up with you Tim! Got up Hitchin Road okay though and usually that is horrible. Will try to go out tonight as we approach the longest day :( Paul back this weekend so much longer rides if I tag along with him. Rear tyre still solid but we all need to clean our chains don't we?????
Got WQ 182 on today, how excellent it is.
nick: well at least the guardian one has set the bar pretty low, so should be a piece of cake for you to do better Tim!
Steve: I've just tried a different music player on Windows (Songbird) and it doesn't know what any of my stuff is. It gets track titles but not artists. Am I buggered because I ripped using WAV which stores no info in the files themselves? Do I need to start again with FLAC and then never use Windows Media Player?
nick: MP3 files (and maybe FLAC) are different to WAV because they do have meta-data such as track names/album covers/genre types etc..
But it's my understanding is that there's no data on CDs that gets used by the trac identifying services apart from the music itself. I.e. it does it by looking at number of tracks/length of tracks/content of tracks.
So by ripping to WAV, you've not lost any info. Maybe you could confirm that by burning a new CD from the WAV, and seeing how well the identifying software copes.
So that suggests perhaps that Songbird doesn't use such a good database? Can you import wav files into media player and see whether it does a better job?
I guess perhaps if you'd ripped to FLAC using Windows Media Player, then it would have tagged the tracks as it went and stored the meta-data in the FLAC. But it could only get that meta data from an external database, not the CD itself
Tim: Yeah yeah yeah but he gets track titles, not artists.
Which seems strange. Would the artist have been attached to each track, or just the album somehow? Do you get album titles?
Steve: All I have is track title which will be the filename. I'll try ripping FLAC and see what happens. Windows Media Player random shuffle keeps giving me the same subset of tracks so I need something else or I could listen to albums...
Steve: Flipping heck my long-standing order for the new Story of I has been cancelled after 3 months and now it doesn't seem to be available anywhere! I have ordered one from eBay - has the right catalogue number so we will see.
BTW Nick how is the remastered PMGong?
nick: I've had funny things happen with this stuff - for example when I ripped a Marriage of Figaro CD, iTunes gave me various suggestions for what the CD was. None was the right edition, but they were all different recordings of "Marriage of Figaro".
So somehow it had worked out what the music was (and since there's no metadata on the CD for it to work with, it must have been sampling the music and taking a fingerprint of it or something). Many of the CDs it suggested had different numbers of tracks than mine, so it wasn't using track number/length information in that case.
So to me it sounds like the problem is that the service it's using to get the metadata is not doing what you want.
I don't use songbird at all but a cursory look suggests there are alternate plugins you can use which will use different providers (gracenote being one of them) to get cd metadata. Perhaps you could look to see which one you're using, and try a different one?
Steve: Then there's also this which I think is going to have a 20-minute track on it.
BTW Paul lucked out at Glasto as Radiohead were guests!
nick: oh, is that the *new* yes album without Jon? I saw that on "Amazon recommends" and I couldn't work out what it was.
I saw some bits of Glastonbury on TV, looks like it was a pretty good lineup. Even Coldplay (Guardian, who don't like Coldplay, reviewed them and said they were good)
Saw a bit of U2 and that looked good. Watched Beyonce last night too. Any news on Paul's results yet?
Steve: Tim when are you off as we are camping in Netley Abbey weekend of the 8th and may be around for a visit?
nick: Car was in the garage last week for its MOT - passed with no problems. However, he said that it needs a new clutch and soon will need new front brake pads. So he held off doing the service, saying that all in this would be about £800 "for a 200,000 mile car, I'm not sure if it's worth doing - the car is not worth much more than £800".
Hmm.. so I think I'll probably get it done and try and make the car last another year (given that it's got MOT and, now, tax) but I probably need to be looking for a replacement.
You had any luck getting a new one, Tim?
Steve: Our service was £750 and it needs a new exhaust soon (£300) and 2 tyres but I'm all for keeping it going.
Tim: Intending to place an order for an Astra tomorrow, as it happens. Probably about 10 weeks to deliver.
We're away on Friday, back on the 15th, inevitably. You're camping at the country park are you Steve? We had dinner at the Prince Consort the other night, not bad.
Incantations looks like a waste of time, pity. The Yes album might be interesting to hear.
Global Communication at the Brit Library was good, albeit brief. Discovered afterwards that my 76:14 has got cataracts so had to buy a new copy.
Steve: Not sure where the camp is I just turn up :) It is all of the Bachinis plus Martins (uncle/aunt/cousins). Good old D for arranging.
Ah so at least you have the re-mastered version of 76:14 then with extras.
Be interested to see your car as we will need one at some point. Bit worried about the funny-looking boot door, can you get anything through it? And I've just realised you will have a bike-carrying vehicle unless it's another convertible!
If they resurrect the sound and the missing bit I would still be tempted. Be nice if they did versions with less singing though.
nick: link to details on the model of Astra you're getting?
Is it brand new? What colour?
weekend of 8th July - don't think we've got anything on for what it's worth
Steve: I knew Nick would ask that so I deliberately didn't! I'll bear you in mind for that weekend - don't worry we should have Paul but won't have bikes.
Tim: Well, there's a hilarious video thing here:
http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/microsite/newastra/
and click on visualiser.
When the guy has finished his bullshite, or if you can't stand any more, go to Exterior Colours > Olympic White.
If you can face it, try some of the other colours too, and see what he thinks.
Tim: Tim calling from Ciutadella. (Brought my netbook and have an internet connection in the room).
OK, it's a 5-door SRi 1.6 Auto, which apparently is a bit of an unusual config - there was a black one in Vauxhall stock, but no white.
Steve: Thank flip for that, for a while there I thought you were getting a normal car! I should think that it goes like stink when you put your foot down.
Have a nice hol and birthday, card in the post (of course).
Tim: Wouldn't think so, it's not a turbo or anything and the SRi bit just means it's got different suspension and a few trimmings. 6-speed gearbox should be a bit of an improvement though.
nick: Tim - not sure if you're back from holiday yet? Big Wheel 17 is this Sunday, and Steve is coming on Saturday afternoon to my house. Maybe you can make it too?
Tim: On our way back from Gatwick now (will be changing trains at BSK in 10 mins) but cycling totally out of the question! Mostly tied up this weekend, back to work Monday. Good luck!
Tim: Sure, but apart from a little bit of rain, was it a good route?
And did I miss any good new CDs or anything?
Steve: Yes WET is not a big enough word but the route was excellent - very quiet. Not enough hills though and no free shampoo at the end. Massive puncture casualty rates, 2 of us 4 had one and you saw people everywhere fixing them.
Got remastered Greenslade first two and they are loads better sonically and both for £5! The new Hergest Ridge is £3 on Amazon but I can't work out if I need this or not. I'm happy with the recent remaster so is this a different mix? HERE
Tim: Yes, that'll be the 2010 mix. The deluxe edition also has the original mix on CD2. All other CDs have the Boxed remix, I think.
nick: I'm considering buying it with my Amazon voucher (got an amazon credit card recently and have been building up the points). The reviews seem favourable, and to paraphrase Steve, when did Trevor Horn ever produce a bad album?
Tim: I didn't realise times were that hard.
At the moment the forecast for Saturday is good, how are you fixed for a ride if it stays that way? I'll see if I can come up with a route that has "enough hills".
nick: The new version of Incantations arrived -it includes a DVD with an hour of concert footage of him playing Incantations in 1979.
Tim: Can't wait to hear it.
Weather still looks reasonable tomorrow, I'm probably not going to be up with the lark though, so how does 10-ish at MD sound?
nick: 10-ish at MD sounds fine. I was out for a curry last night with Tony, and will be out for another one with John tonight. So I may be a bit sluggish (get those excuses in early)...
Tim: Well I was a bit knackered and sore after Saturday's ride, but was totally back to normal on Sunday, which was good news.
The 10-day eather forecast looks pretty stable, so have you got any good opportunities for another go?
nick: My diary looks fairly empty at the moment so yes I'd be up for another ride, next Sat AM or maybe an evening this week?
Don't know if Steve might be available at any time in the near future - the ride on Saturday was a really nice route. Took 3 hours to do 26 miles, which contrasts with 4 hours to do the Big Wheel's 54 miles. Shows how much difference it makes when you go off road!
Steve: Busy this coming weekend, will see, but keep training! As I will be - I have a fit 21yr old personal trainer.
Tim: I don't think I can do any evenings this week, so for me it's looking like Sat a.m. and/or next Monday/Tuesday.
nick: I get regular emails from these people. They seem to have a constant stream of stuff running, and are extremely close to Tim. So maybe worth considering next time Steve is down? (I'm thinking of the Dylan Thomas thing)
Titchfield Festival Theatre
Tim: Don't forget this place that's even closer: http://www.theberrytheatre.co.uk/whats%20on.aspx?category=theatre, although their program is a bit patchy. Actually I see they've got an Orlando Figes-based thing (Russian history).
nick: BBC have made all the archive "Reith Lectures" recordings available online, from 1948(!) to 2011
1948-1975
1976-2010
Got to be potential for a New Year's resolution there -work through the lot of them...
nick: Steve - yes got it in one. It is "Inner City Codes" by Subsonic Park.
When I was at Tim's on Saturday, he unwrapped a parcel of CDs which included that one. He said "I lost my original copy so ordered another". I said "I've got a copy of that!"
I am listening to an audio book of W Somerset Maugham's "The Painted Veil" at the moment. It is pretty good (lovely writing style, easy to read but beautifully constructed sentences). Just got past a fairly significant bit where he's had something happen which the reader (with a bit of research in my case), and certain protagonists in the book, can realise the significance of, but the main character doesn't. And I can't stop thinking about it. Really good.
There was a recent film of it, so I ordered the DVD off amazon
nick: tim, weather looking to be dry if not sunny tomorrow, you still up for a ride? I can do 10 at MD again
Tim: Nick, the forecast looks a bit rainy midweek. Should be able to do Sat a.m., or Friday eve, whichever is better for you.
nick: A comment made by our CEO, an "internet expert" who "knows what he's talking about" has been picked up on and reported here. Cancel your Facebook account!
nick: I think weather looks OK tomorrow, so can do 10 at MD if you're up for it.
How are you (Tim) getting on with Count of Monte Cristo?
nick: Gosh, £90 per album (according to Amazon) ? I don't think so... I might consider buying a remaster of Animals if it sounds any good, but that's not one of the ones they appear to be doing...
Yesterday's ride
Tim: There's a remaster of Animals in the Discovery box set, so I assume it will be available separately.
Now you mention it, £90 is a bit stupid.
nick: Oh well spotted. I suppose I better pre-order then
It'll only be the fourth time I've bought that album...
nick: Tim I can't remember the last time you seemed so excited about an impending CD release as you are about these Floyd things... perhaps you should have gone to see RW with Steve at the O2?
Tim: Normally I wouldn't mention an impending CD release because you wouldn't know what I was talking about. But it's true, I've got a bit of a soft spot for WYWH, great combination of music and cover art. Also Animals (but just the music). But not The Wall, though.
Tim: It does, mostly non-trivial ones thankfully. But I don't actually listen to it of course, just remember it fondly.
Steve: Well my copy of Animals is truly terrible sound-wise but I never play it and probably never would. Looks like the prices may be fairly sensible on the new ones.
We could be coming down your way Monday 22nd of August on our way to stay at Carolyn's Tuesday for almost a week's hols. If anyone wants to put us up I can swap it for a meal out for their family. There would be 3 or 4 of us. Start the bidding...
If not no worry, we can drive straight there Tuesday.
Been doing some off-road last week - stupidly forgot how good it is, although knobbly tyres on tarmac is very tedious.
nick: Steve you're welcome to stay at ours. I am out on evening of Tuesday 23rd but other times are fine
Steve: OK well done Nick. We can come down during the day if you fancy some time off. Obviously we need to avoid the rush hour periods.
nick: Happy Birthday Steve
in other news - another re-organisation at Lesley's place - they have announced new structure, and are asking people who's jobs have gone away to apply for jobs in the new structure. Lesley says her job has gone away and there is nothing in the new structure which seems to fit her, so not really sure what's happening. She seems to think there's a reasonable chance she'll be asked to go, and so has been trying to make copies of her email address book/phone numbers etc. in case she has to give her laptop/phone back today
Steve: Thanks for that Nick. Get that house sold then! It's all about quality of life, get her working part-time so your tea's ready when you get home!
Paul's in Thailand, maybe holidays are worth it:
"Just caught a bit of BBC world service -- WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON??? Pictures of whole block of houses on fire... whats the rioting all about and how did it start? Reminiscent of the film 28 days later...
Rode through some jungle atop an elephant today. Yeah it was alright....
Leaving BKK tomorrow evening for overnight train to the paradisey islands of the south. Going to wander round the shops/markets lazily tomorrow as its going to be rudely hot and thuderstormy, also we are worn out from day trip today. Need to get some book reading done too, the U-boat is just about to make its first attack.
Midnight here and still 27 degrees - less humid due to a storm so feels nice. I am starting to get used to it I think. Also BKK is noticeably a few degrees warmers than the country side."
nick: Just had a text - no news so far. She was talking last night about retiring! So I'm sure her quality of life will be fine ;-)
Thanks for the Paul update. He's not been doing lots of cycling then?
Tim: Happy Birthday!
So, Monday 22nd, somebody mentioned scoff. There's nothing in my calendar so hopefully I could make that...?!
Steve: Yep okay the 22nd is sorted then.
No Paul cycling for the 3 weeks, I've been doing plenty thanks, it's starting to get dark earlier...
Tim: The weather forecast keeps changing but at the moment it's dry for Monday - are you available for cycling Nick?
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nick: Have been helping Ella with a psychology assignment, and pointed her to the notes I made from when I did my evening course.Just had a text from her "Can you delete your webpage of [sic] the internet so I can use it? I haven't copied it exactly...And then I'll get my pass, and you can put it back up in about 3 weeks.."
Tim: I know we're not talking about Rush, but a quick surf finds other people unimpressed with the sound, e.g. comments on here:http://www.theartsdesk.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3771:rush-o2-arena&Itemid=27 nick: ..yes.. although I did find a fair number of people who thought the sound was OK, so maybe it's just where we were sitting. Or maybe they're all cotton-eared.I watched the DVD of "Beyond the Lighted Stage" - pretty enjoyable but I'm not sure it was that great a film, and couldn't see why it had won awards. It seemed a fairly standard history-of-a-rock-band to me, with home movies of the boys when they were young, bits of concert footage, interviews with the band and entourage, and "famous" talking heads going on about how they think Rush are underrated.
Good to see them though, and to see that they do appear to enjoy doing what they do.
Steve: Thanks very much for good link into the sound complaints, I had a bit of a look but you struck paydirt! I did email the O2 and got a nice reply back but (I had said that I didn't think it was becessarily the O2's fault) I need to take it up with the promoter which I will do now that I see the number of comments, means writing a letter though... Was a nice review though. nick: Have been leaving food out for the birds and using the RSPB Bird Identifier to see who's been eating it, and seem to be getting more different ones every day. So ar, it's been loads of starlings (including young ones who come and sit and wait to be fed by parents), sparrows, bluetits, blackbirds, pigeons, doves, robin, chaffinch, magpie and, yesterday, for the first time, a jackdaw (I didn't need RSBP for that one, thanks Steve). I think I may have some other finch type birds too. Tim: Nick, you sound like you've never seen a bird before. Good identifier though.Are we doing stuff next weekend?
Steve: Yes he's gone a bit mental over birds, to anyone who has watched the early episodes of the Sopranos it's classic anxiety symptoms.Can't see Liverpool but it is put aside apparently according to Deb so we could do a London ride or the Reading one?
Tim: I'm game for anything. What day(s) should I set aside? If we can sketch (lovely word) a plan out I'll be in business. Tim: Yes, looks like all except the final, just as expected. So that'll be a few days touring Coventry/Manchester/Newcastle.On the symphony thing, er, are there any decent cheap seats?
Steve: I'm happy to come down that way, D is out on the Sunday so I should see her a bit on the Saturday I guess. Maybe ride on Sunday in or to London?Don;t mind about the gig - we did see the 9th a while ago, maybe Tim is hinting at that, I'm happy faffing and laughing at Nick's album collection.
Tim: It didn't look unmissable to me. But anyway, I've registered on the Anvil ticket site to have a look, and there don't seem to be any decent cheap seats.The Ghost and Mrs Muir then?
Steve: I can get there for about 2-3PM. BTW I did a recce of jackets in Debenhams for you Nick, if you look at pretty well any from Jeff Banks or John Rocha I would have thought you'd be fine - not cheap though, maybe wait for the sale?BTW that play looks a bit terrible? I have spent a while searching for gigs in Hampshire for that date and can see nothing suitable.
Steve: Ah yes the Chaplin one is amazing. Almost as good as Boy George and Freddy Mercury! Listening to Liza Minelli on the Graham Norton show, she was dropping names like Elvis into the conversation. I knew Dali had worked with Disney. nick: Sorry I have been a bit distracted and not replied on blog.So am I right in saying you're planning on getting here on Saturday afternoon Steve? (You said "I can get there for about 2-3PM" but for some reason I have in my mind that you might have meant Friday).
Which would mean Sunday for the ride (or something).
You're both welcome to stay Saturday night if you want.
"Ghost and Mrs Muir" doesn't look great, although I thought Steve might be keen because it's got Anna Brecon in, and she looks like she might be his type...
Tim: I read it as Saturday afternoon, so I'll plan to get there about the same time, cycling from MD. Steve: My type! I even searched for gigs in Hampshire but got nowhere. I confirm I am coming on the Saturday, not the Friday. And thought riding would be Sunday yes.(Put this in the box yesterday and forgot to hit Publish.)
Tim: Got home half an hour ago, discovered on the short ride from the station that MY ARSE HURTS. Other than that, good day out cheers. Apparently weather has been filth all day here. nick: Yes, good day out - legs feel a bit tired today though.Shame the weather was so poor as it detracted from enjoying all the sights.
Good job I had two coats to wear when cycling back from Micheldever - it was raining quite a lot!
nick: This was the sort of thing I was thinking of Steve, except you want one that doesn't rely on flash. Surely Tim can knock one up in ASP or HTML5 or something? Steve: Er yes I couldn't get on with it very well either. BTW we have a customer whose name gives me a jolt when I see it: Alexander Bachurin.Legs were a bit achy yesterday from trying to keep up with you Tim! Got up Hitchin Road okay though and usually that is horrible. Will try to go out tonight as we approach the longest day :( Paul back this weekend so much longer rides if I tag along with him. Rear tyre still solid but we all need to clean our chains don't we?????
Got WQ 182 on today, how excellent it is.
nick: well at least the guardian one has set the bar pretty low, so should be a piece of cake for you to do better Tim! Steve: I've just tried a different music player on Windows (Songbird) and it doesn't know what any of my stuff is. It gets track titles but not artists. Am I buggered because I ripped using WAV which stores no info in the files themselves? Do I need to start again with FLAC and then never use Windows Media Player? nick: MP3 files (and maybe FLAC) are different to WAV because they do have meta-data such as track names/album covers/genre types etc..But it's my understanding is that there's no data on CDs that gets used by the trac identifying services apart from the music itself. I.e. it does it by looking at number of tracks/length of tracks/content of tracks.
So by ripping to WAV, you've not lost any info. Maybe you could confirm that by burning a new CD from the WAV, and seeing how well the identifying software copes.
So that suggests perhaps that Songbird doesn't use such a good database? Can you import wav files into media player and see whether it does a better job?
I guess perhaps if you'd ripped to FLAC using Windows Media Player, then it would have tagged the tracks as it went and stored the meta-data in the FLAC. But it could only get that meta data from an external database, not the CD itself
Tim: Yeah yeah yeah but he gets track titles, not artists.Which seems strange. Would the artist have been attached to each track, or just the album somehow? Do you get album titles?
Steve: All I have is track title which will be the filename. I'll try ripping FLAC and see what happens. Windows Media Player random shuffle keeps giving me the same subset of tracks so I need something else or I could listen to albums... Steve: Flipping heck my long-standing order for the new Story of I has been cancelled after 3 months and now it doesn't seem to be available anywhere! I have ordered one from eBay - has the right catalogue number so we will see.BTW Nick how is the remastered PMGong?
nick: I've had funny things happen with this stuff - for example when I ripped a Marriage of Figaro CD, iTunes gave me various suggestions for what the CD was. None was the right edition, but they were all different recordings of "Marriage of Figaro".So somehow it had worked out what the music was (and since there's no metadata on the CD for it to work with, it must have been sampling the music and taking a fingerprint of it or something). Many of the CDs it suggested had different numbers of tracks than mine, so it wasn't using track number/length information in that case.
So to me it sounds like the problem is that the service it's using to get the metadata is not doing what you want.
I don't use songbird at all but a cursory look suggests there are alternate plugins you can use which will use different providers (gracenote being one of them) to get cd metadata. Perhaps you could look to see which one you're using, and try a different one?
Steve: Then there's also this which I think is going to have a 20-minute track on it.BTW Paul lucked out at Glasto as Radiohead were guests!
nick: oh, is that the *new* yes album without Jon? I saw that on "Amazon recommends" and I couldn't work out what it was.I saw some bits of Glastonbury on TV, looks like it was a pretty good lineup. Even Coldplay (Guardian, who don't like Coldplay, reviewed them and said they were good)
Saw a bit of U2 and that looked good. Watched Beyonce last night too. Any news on Paul's results yet?
Steve: Tim when are you off as we are camping in Netley Abbey weekend of the 8th and may be around for a visit? nick: Car was in the garage last week for its MOT - passed with no problems. However, he said that it needs a new clutch and soon will need new front brake pads. So he held off doing the service, saying that all in this would be about £800 "for a 200,000 mile car, I'm not sure if it's worth doing - the car is not worth much more than £800".Hmm.. so I think I'll probably get it done and try and make the car last another year (given that it's got MOT and, now, tax) but I probably need to be looking for a replacement.
You had any luck getting a new one, Tim?
Steve: Our service was £750 and it needs a new exhaust soon (£300) and 2 tyres but I'm all for keeping it going. Tim: Intending to place an order for an Astra tomorrow, as it happens. Probably about 10 weeks to deliver.We're away on Friday, back on the 15th, inevitably. You're camping at the country park are you Steve? We had dinner at the Prince Consort the other night, not bad.
Incantations looks like a waste of time, pity. The Yes album might be interesting to hear.
Global Communication at the Brit Library was good, albeit brief. Discovered afterwards that my 76:14 has got cataracts so had to buy a new copy.
Steve: Not sure where the camp is I just turn up :) It is all of the Bachinis plus Martins (uncle/aunt/cousins). Good old D for arranging.Ah so at least you have the re-mastered version of 76:14 then with extras.
Be interested to see your car as we will need one at some point. Bit worried about the funny-looking boot door, can you get anything through it? And I've just realised you will have a bike-carrying vehicle unless it's another convertible!
If they resurrect the sound and the missing bit I would still be tempted. Be nice if they did versions with less singing though.
nick: link to details on the model of Astra you're getting?Is it brand new? What colour?
weekend of 8th July - don't think we've got anything on for what it's worth
Steve: I knew Nick would ask that so I deliberately didn't! I'll bear you in mind for that weekend - don't worry we should have Paul but won't have bikes. Tim: Well, there's a hilarious video thing here:http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/microsite/newastra/
and click on visualiser.
When the guy has finished his bullshite, or if you can't stand any more, go to Exterior Colours > Olympic White.
If you can face it, try some of the other colours too, and see what he thinks.
Tim: Tim calling from Ciutadella. (Brought my netbook and have an internet connection in the room).OK, it's a 5-door SRi 1.6 Auto, which apparently is a bit of an unusual config - there was a black one in Vauxhall stock, but no white.
Steve: Thank flip for that, for a while there I thought you were getting a normal car! I should think that it goes like stink when you put your foot down.Have a nice hol and birthday, card in the post (of course).
Tim: Wouldn't think so, it's not a turbo or anything and the SRi bit just means it's got different suspension and a few trimmings. 6-speed gearbox should be a bit of an improvement though. nick: Tim - not sure if you're back from holiday yet? Big Wheel 17 is this Sunday, and Steve is coming on Saturday afternoon to my house. Maybe you can make it too? Tim: On our way back from Gatwick now (will be changing trains at BSK in 10 mins) but cycling totally out of the question! Mostly tied up this weekend, back to work Monday. Good luck! Tim: Sure, but apart from a little bit of rain, was it a good route?And did I miss any good new CDs or anything?
Steve: Yes WET is not a big enough word but the route was excellent - very quiet. Not enough hills though and no free shampoo at the end. Massive puncture casualty rates, 2 of us 4 had one and you saw people everywhere fixing them.Got remastered Greenslade first two and they are loads better sonically and both for £5! The new Hergest Ridge is £3 on Amazon but I can't work out if I need this or not. I'm happy with the recent remaster so is this a different mix? HERE
Tim: Yes, that'll be the 2010 mix. The deluxe edition also has the original mix on CD2. All other CDs have the Boxed remix, I think. nick: I'm considering buying it with my Amazon voucher (got an amazon credit card recently and have been building up the points). The reviews seem favourable, and to paraphrase Steve, when did Trevor Horn ever produce a bad album? Tim: I didn't realise times were that hard.At the moment the forecast for Saturday is good, how are you fixed for a ride if it stays that way? I'll see if I can come up with a route that has "enough hills".
nick: The new version of Incantations arrived -it includes a DVD with an hour of concert footage of him playing Incantations in 1979. Tim: Can't wait to hear it.Weather still looks reasonable tomorrow, I'm probably not going to be up with the lark though, so how does 10-ish at MD sound?
nick: 10-ish at MD sounds fine. I was out for a curry last night with Tony, and will be out for another one with John tonight. So I may be a bit sluggish (get those excuses in early)... Tim: Well I was a bit knackered and sore after Saturday's ride, but was totally back to normal on Sunday, which was good news.The 10-day eather forecast looks pretty stable, so have you got any good opportunities for another go?
nick: My diary looks fairly empty at the moment so yes I'd be up for another ride, next Sat AM or maybe an evening this week?Don't know if Steve might be available at any time in the near future - the ride on Saturday was a really nice route. Took 3 hours to do 26 miles, which contrasts with 4 hours to do the Big Wheel's 54 miles. Shows how much difference it makes when you go off road!
Steve: Busy this coming weekend, will see, but keep training! As I will be - I have a fit 21yr old personal trainer. Tim: I don't think I can do any evenings this week, so for me it's looking like Sat a.m. and/or next Monday/Tuesday. nick: I get regular emails from these people. They seem to have a constant stream of stuff running, and are extremely close to Tim. So maybe worth considering next time Steve is down? (I'm thinking of the Dylan Thomas thing)Titchfield Festival Theatre
Tim: Don't forget this place that's even closer: http://www.theberrytheatre.co.uk/whats%20on.aspx?category=theatre, although their program is a bit patchy. Actually I see they've got an Orlando Figes-based thing (Russian history). nick: BBC have made all the archive "Reith Lectures" recordings available online, from 1948(!) to 20111948-1975
1976-2010
Got to be potential for a New Year's resolution there -work through the lot of them...
nick: Steve - yes got it in one. It is "Inner City Codes" by Subsonic Park.When I was at Tim's on Saturday, he unwrapped a parcel of CDs which included that one. He said "I lost my original copy so ordered another". I said "I've got a copy of that!"
I am listening to an audio book of W Somerset Maugham's "The Painted Veil" at the moment. It is pretty good (lovely writing style, easy to read but beautifully constructed sentences). Just got past a fairly significant bit where he's had something happen which the reader (with a bit of research in my case), and certain protagonists in the book, can realise the significance of, but the main character doesn't. And I can't stop thinking about it. Really good.
There was a recent film of it, so I ordered the DVD off amazon
nick: tim, weather looking to be dry if not sunny tomorrow, you still up for a ride? I can do 10 at MD again Tim: Nick, the forecast looks a bit rainy midweek. Should be able to do Sat a.m., or Friday eve, whichever is better for you. nick: A comment made by our CEO, an "internet expert" who "knows what he's talking about" has been picked up on and reported here. Cancel your Facebook account! nick: I think weather looks OK tomorrow, so can do 10 at MD if you're up for it.How are you (Tim) getting on with Count of Monte Cristo?
nick: Gosh, £90 per album (according to Amazon) ? I don't think so... I might consider buying a remaster of Animals if it sounds any good, but that's not one of the ones they appear to be doing...Yesterday's ride
Tim: There's a remaster of Animals in the Discovery box set, so I assume it will be available separately.Now you mention it, £90 is a bit stupid.
nick: Oh well spotted. I suppose I better pre-order thenIt'll only be the fourth time I've bought that album...
nick: Tim I can't remember the last time you seemed so excited about an impending CD release as you are about these Floyd things... perhaps you should have gone to see RW with Steve at the O2? Tim: Normally I wouldn't mention an impending CD release because you wouldn't know what I was talking about. But it's true, I've got a bit of a soft spot for WYWH, great combination of music and cover art. Also Animals (but just the music). But not The Wall, though. Tim: It does, mostly non-trivial ones thankfully. But I don't actually listen to it of course, just remember it fondly. Steve: Well my copy of Animals is truly terrible sound-wise but I never play it and probably never would. Looks like the prices may be fairly sensible on the new ones.We could be coming down your way Monday 22nd of August on our way to stay at Carolyn's Tuesday for almost a week's hols. If anyone wants to put us up I can swap it for a meal out for their family. There would be 3 or 4 of us. Start the bidding...
If not no worry, we can drive straight there Tuesday.
Been doing some off-road last week - stupidly forgot how good it is, although knobbly tyres on tarmac is very tedious.
nick: Steve you're welcome to stay at ours. I am out on evening of Tuesday 23rd but other times are fine Steve: OK well done Nick. We can come down during the day if you fancy some time off. Obviously we need to avoid the rush hour periods. nick: Happy Birthday Stevein other news - another re-organisation at Lesley's place - they have announced new structure, and are asking people who's jobs have gone away to apply for jobs in the new structure. Lesley says her job has gone away and there is nothing in the new structure which seems to fit her, so not really sure what's happening. She seems to think there's a reasonable chance she'll be asked to go, and so has been trying to make copies of her email address book/phone numbers etc. in case she has to give her laptop/phone back today
Steve: Thanks for that Nick. Get that house sold then! It's all about quality of life, get her working part-time so your tea's ready when you get home!Paul's in Thailand, maybe holidays are worth it:
"Just caught a bit of BBC world service -- WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON??? Pictures of whole block of houses on fire... whats the rioting all about and how did it start? Reminiscent of the film 28 days later...
Rode through some jungle atop an elephant today. Yeah it was alright....
Leaving BKK tomorrow evening for overnight train to the paradisey islands of the south. Going to wander round the shops/markets lazily tomorrow as its going to be rudely hot and thuderstormy, also we are worn out from day trip today. Need to get some book reading done too, the U-boat is just about to make its first attack.
Midnight here and still 27 degrees - less humid due to a storm so feels nice. I am starting to get used to it I think. Also BKK is noticeably a few degrees warmers than the country side."
nick: Just had a text - no news so far. She was talking last night about retiring! So I'm sure her quality of life will be fine ;-)Thanks for the Paul update. He's not been doing lots of cycling then?
Tim: Happy Birthday!So, Monday 22nd, somebody mentioned scoff. There's nothing in my calendar so hopefully I could make that...?!
Steve: Yep okay the 22nd is sorted then.No Paul cycling for the 3 weeks, I've been doing plenty thanks, it's starting to get dark earlier...
Tim: The weather forecast keeps changing but at the moment it's dry for Monday - are you available for cycling Nick?<< Home
