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  1. andrew markworthy

    Apple event March 9th: Spring forward!

    And I'm 6ft 9" and can intimidate night club bouncers. But no way would I wear an Apple Watch in some neighbourhoods for a while after their launch. There's always some crack head willing to have a go, knowing how many fixes he can buy with a stolen item like this.
  2. andrew markworthy

    Apple event March 9th: Spring forward!

    Actually, Sam, I can see your argument from what I said. The back story is a bit different, however. I was 9 when the first moon landings took place. I saw the moon watch in a jeweller's window and my dad saw me doing this and said 'If you ever get a degree, I'll buy you one'. Now I remembered...
  3. andrew markworthy

    Apple event March 9th: Spring forward!

    Let's see if I've got this right: (1) The Apple Watch will do very little unless you also carry round your iPhone as well. How often do you *really* need to look at information on a watch versus on a phone? And do you always want to have your phone with you (sorry, I realise that question must...
  4. andrew markworthy

    Happy Independance Day

    I don't think a monarchy necessarily does give stability. It's how the monarchy operates in a democratic country as a figurehead that is an *expression* of stability. Just the same goes for a presidency. And both systems have their merits and faults, but overall they work perfectly well. So vive...
  5. andrew markworthy

    Happy Independance Day

    In the spirit of the day, and just to show we Brits don't hold grudges, here's a blast from the past:
  6. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    It's odd how some sports just resolutely remain minority activities in one country but in another they are huge. For example: rugby (big in the UK, France, Italy, and bits of the UK Commonwealth) ice hockey (USA, Canada, Russia, a couple of Scandanavian countries) field hockey (Asia in the...
  7. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    Competition for places in the big league European teams is even more vicious than that, since a relaxation of the rules a few years ago meant that players didn't have to be naturalised citizens. The result of this is that over half of the big teams like Manchester United consist of foreign...
  8. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    I spoke too soon. I'd forgotten about Wimbledon, which will now occupy the news instead. Oh joy. Glad to see that Suarez is perpetuating his role as pantomime villain. I don't know what is more shaming - the biting or the histrionic display afterwards.
  9. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    Have you any idea what it's like living in the UK when England are involved in the World Cup and you're amongst the majority of Brits [yes, you read that correctly] who are not avid football fans? An early exit is a blessed relief as the news media here regain at least some sense of proportion...
  10. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    The FIFA World Cup, yes. But before the FIFA cup, there were other semi-official competitions between nations that were called 'world cups'. Sorry, not a football expert, but this is what I've been told and always taken it as accurate. However, more than happy to be corrected. Actually, if it is...
  11. andrew markworthy

    World Cup Soccer - 2014!

    I'm a Brit, but I never cease to be amazed by three delusional themes in the national psyche: (1) We won our last three significant European wars (Waterloo, WWI, WWII) without anyone else's help. Admittedly, this view is mellowing, and some radicals are now prepared to admit that the...
  12. andrew markworthy

    Not just 3D, is Blu-ray media dying?

    As per usual, the Brit market is perverse. For example, if you're a Brit and want to watch Poirot, one of ITV's most successful titles in the UK and a perennial favourite on the ITV HD broadcasts, then you have to get the Spanish edition of the programmes. The same goes for umpteen other hugely...
  13. andrew markworthy

    Advice about the Fujifilm X20 wanted

    Camera and bag both arrived in this morning's mail (way earlier than expected). The combo does work surprisingly well. I wouldn't want to wear it sitting in an airplane seat or for long distances in a car, but for walking around, etc, it seems fine and way less cumbersome than anything involving...
  14. andrew markworthy

    Advice about the Fujifilm X20 wanted

    Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've tried an R strap and don't like it. I can see why a lot of folks do, but I just don't like anything hanging from my neck or shoulders. I'll tolerate my Billingham bag to lug around my SLR and its various lenses, but it's under sufferance and usually I don't...
  15. andrew markworthy

    Advice about the Fujifilm X20 wanted

    I don't know how the heck it happened, but I managed to throw out my Leica D-Lux 4 by mistake. This was a huge blow to me, simply because it was my late father's camera and it had sentimental value. For 'serious' photography I have a Canon EOS with a range of lenses and that is safe and fine...
  16. andrew markworthy

    New Special Edition Postage Stamps

    In answer to the original question - no, the new stamp will have absolutely no effect on the value of the original. Reproducing famous (and valuable) old stamps on new issues is very common, and nearly every postal organisation in the world has done it at least once. In recent years here in the...
  17. andrew markworthy

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter -- in Blu-ray & 3D

    I saw this movie on an hotel TV channel earlier this year. The only snag is that it was labelled simply as 'Lincoln' and I thought it was the Spielberg film. I spent the first twenty minutes or so trying to work out what the **** was going on. I figured it was just some sort of dream sequence...
  18. andrew markworthy

    Total newbie - projector and 5.1 speakers

    Edit: Not sure I added anything sensible to the issue!
  19. andrew markworthy

    DVD Review Mister 880 DVD Review

    I LOVE this film! I saw it by chance one Saturday afternoon and have been hunting for a copy ever since! Thank you for alerting me to this - am ordering it right away!
  20. andrew markworthy

    Blu-ray Review Zulu Dawn Blu-ray Review

    If anything, Zulu downplayed the British heroism. It's like Apollo 13, which was a LOT tougher in real life than the film portrays. Alas, cynics that we are these days, a realistic portrayal would probably have most people saying 'yeah, right ...' and dismissing it as fantasy. I think Zulu Dawn...
  21. andrew markworthy

    Need a new TV. about 40" and low cost.

    Glad you're pleased with your purchase.
  22. andrew markworthy

    Peggy Sue Got Married (Blu-ray) Available for Preorder

    The movie is worth having just for the sublime scene where the Turner character takes the math test, and writes nothing because she knows she will never need the skill being tested in the future.
  23. andrew markworthy

    Need a new TV. about 40" and low cost.

    I don't mean this as a prying question, but are there other people in your house or are you in an apartment block? Bass travels horribly efficiently late at night and a full on sound might be great for you but unlikely to win you many friends! I merely mention this because we are in a similar...
  24. andrew markworthy

    RIP Roger Ebert :(

    Here in the UK, we only knew Mr Ebert from his written work and of course in more recent times his DVD commentaries. I think he was far and away the best film critic the USA has produced. A sad sad loss.
  25. andrew markworthy

    a tragic loss

    Paul My sincere condolences. My mother died last November, a year or so after my father, after a long illness that progressively robbed her of her physical health and her memory. With no disrespect intended towards anyone else here, I got fed up of people telling me 'time will heal' - it did...
  26. andrew markworthy

    3D DR. NO (1962) 3-D conversion tested in Taiwan

    Just a minute - if this continues with the other Bond films then eventually Roger Moore will be seen playing a three dimensional character. Surely that defies all laws of nature?
  27. andrew markworthy

    The promise of an Apple TV

    Or for that matter the iPad (who wants something that size that can't fit in your pocket? etc). But there is a crucial difference between the TV and the iPhone. The iPhone came at a time when mobile phones had become ubiquitous but smart phones were less than reliable - there was a clear need...
  28. andrew markworthy

    The promise of an Apple TV

    Very true, though it should be said that the Kuro was so expensive that even a lot of consumers who could genuinely see its qualities weren't prepared to pay that sort of money (me included, and yes, I could afford a Kuro). And I think therein lies the problem. Picture quality is so good these...
  29. andrew markworthy

    A Few Words About A few words about...™ Sleeper -- in Blu-ray

    I saw Sleeper on one of the worst dates of my life. I fear that whatever the merits of the film (and I admit that objectively it's good) whenever I've seen it mentioned since a feeling of gross embarrassment envelops me like the Blob. I'm off now to find something alcoholic ...
  30. andrew markworthy

    Do you ever become obsessed with famous dead people?

    I was born in, as far as we can tell, the same minute that Albert Ketelbey (the composer - best known pieces were 'In a Monastery Garden' and 'In a Persian Market') died. Today, I'm not a composer.
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