"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."
(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?)
I think the above quotation is rather good, hence why I have included it here.
But, is it by Goethe? Well, for a start, Goethe didn't write in English, and this quotation tends to feature as part of a larger quote from W H Murray, a Scottish Mountaineer, who, explaining that once committed to a plan, all sorts of support can be found, and that he had great respect for what he called the "Goethe couplet".
It turns out that the couplet is from what is described as a "very free" translation of the original by John Anster in 1835 (and frankly seems far more memorable than what is presumably a more literal version of the same passage included on the Goethe society site).
So, well done Mr Anster. Good stuff!
Sunday, 8 February 2015
Saturday, 7 February 2015
Friday, 6 February 2015
Wednesday, 4 February 2015
Tuesday, 3 February 2015
Open access
The news today is that The Open will be moving to Sky from 2017 onwards, at least as far as live coverage is concerned. As a Sky Sports subscriber, this is no problem, but somehow it still feels like a bit of a shame, just like when they got the test matches, and when they started to pinch the live Formula One (a job they will no doubt complete over the next few years).
A time will come, and in the not too distant future, when all that will be left on terrestrial TV will be the things that Sky can't be bothered to bid for - which basically means the least popular sports.
The exceptions to this rule are the "Listed and Designated Sports" which are on Ofcom's list of things which must be on free to air TV - see this Wikipedia article for details. Basically we are safe with the World Cup (football), The Olympics, Wimbledon, and a few other bits and pieces.
I'd got it in my head that we were safe with The Open as well, but that theory got disproved today, and checking the article, it turns out that it is a "category B" event meaning that we have to get free highlights, but Sky are allowed to waltz off with the live stuff. Interestingly per the article there were some revisions proposed back in 2009 that would have done away with the B list, and The Open would have had to stay free to air for live coverage.
Clearly those proposals didn't get very far then!
A time will come, and in the not too distant future, when all that will be left on terrestrial TV will be the things that Sky can't be bothered to bid for - which basically means the least popular sports.
The exceptions to this rule are the "Listed and Designated Sports" which are on Ofcom's list of things which must be on free to air TV - see this Wikipedia article for details. Basically we are safe with the World Cup (football), The Olympics, Wimbledon, and a few other bits and pieces.
I'd got it in my head that we were safe with The Open as well, but that theory got disproved today, and checking the article, it turns out that it is a "category B" event meaning that we have to get free highlights, but Sky are allowed to waltz off with the live stuff. Interestingly per the article there were some revisions proposed back in 2009 that would have done away with the B list, and The Open would have had to stay free to air for live coverage.
Clearly those proposals didn't get very far then!
Monday, 2 February 2015
Vet
Barley's been to the vet today. Has lots of tablets to sort out her dodgy tummy, and is now fast asleep on the sofa (probably secretly enjoying all of the attention).
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Maleficent
In a weekend of film blogs, we watched Maleficent on Sky Movies this evening. I remember seeing particularly large posters of it still around the place in Orlando last year, although I think it had probably been out in the US for a while by then.
Obviously, take everything I say about a Disney movie with a huge pinch of salt, as I am probably not very objective about these kinds of things, but I thought that it wasn't bad at all. A good performance by Angelina, and an interesting spin on the original tale. Pretty much made the baddie into a goodie and vice versa.
Obviously, take everything I say about a Disney movie with a huge pinch of salt, as I am probably not very objective about these kinds of things, but I thought that it wasn't bad at all. A good performance by Angelina, and an interesting spin on the original tale. Pretty much made the baddie into a goodie and vice versa.
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