DVDon't

We bought a DVD the other day.

Solveig was in Sainsbury's and saw Thomas And The Magic Railroad* was on offer for four quid, so she picked one up for the kids. Upon arrival, she (or more probably Theo) popped it into the DVD player and pressed PLAY. Nothing happened. She ejected it, blew off any dust and had another go. Nowt. Just the dreaded "Loading..." icon in the top right corner of the screen. Cue disappointed kids and the return of Peppa Pig to our screens.

We took it back and exchanged it, assuming the disc was faulty in some way. But the replacement was exactly the same, refusing even to load the disc, let alone actually play. Short of believing there was a batch of discs with a manufacturing defect, I was curious to see if the disc would work in a computer drive, rather than our standard domestic DVD player. So I popped it into a laptop and it worked fine. No other DVDs have ever failed to work in the normal player. Weird.

Figuring that making a copy of something that doesn't actually work wouldn't really be breaking any laws, I set to with ripping it. Obviously it has the latest copy protection; not a massive problem, there are ways and means. Less than an hour later, we have a working copy of the film which runs perfectly in the DVD player and the kids are happy.

But what kind of industry cripples its media so much that a standard domestic player cannot even read it? And isn't that now the opposite of the problem we used to have with CDs, whereby copy-protected discs wouldn't play in PC data drives but were fine in regular audio CD players?

Somebody somewhere needs to have a damned good think...

* dreadful Americanised 'Polar Express'-lite set on Sodor - don't bother :)

Happy Hour

I think I may have invented a new cocktail.

Double Moskovskaya vodka + shot of Calpol + cube of ice + twist of flamed orange.

I'm calling it a 'cBeebies'.

Remember: please drink responshiblzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

No More Cotton Wool

I love the idea of this book:

Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)

Full of stuff that we and our parents maybe used to try with a healthy disregard for health & safety and/or social services (licking batteries, playing in hailstorms, supergluing two fingers together...) plus the rejuvenation of the seemingly long-lost idea that the best way to find out whether you should be doing something is to try it, once.

And it's got whittling in it...

Rhapsody In Buloo

Freyja is obsessed with 'Waybuloo' on cBeebies but the theme tune is a proper earworm and has been bugging me for weeks.

Finally, this morning over breakfast, I worked it out. It's the strapline from the "Where in the world" PC World TV advert over 'Hong Kong Garden' by Siouxsie and the Banshees mixed with the in-game music from 'Crash Bandicoot'.

I really need to get out more.

Overheard #71

(Not technically 'overheard' as it was addressed to me personally, but too good not to share...)

Meeting my family off the plane from Dubai after their 10-day break; a period in which I took it upon myself to attempt to grow a beard, as one might. Out of the baggage reclaim area they come, blinking in the uber-bright all-glass Heathrow Terminal 5 sunlight. Freyja sees me and runs over to give me a hug with the following greeting:

"Hello, Daddy! Have you had your face painted?"

Classic.

Change 24

Today's change was to my age. Yes, thirty-eight years ago (around 6.30pm, I'm told, just in time for a gin & tonic) I arrived in the world, a little yellow* bundle of joy**. From Kingston Hospital back home to Richmond*** where my mum finally got to tuck into her pork chop****.

Still here, though; so far, so good. Happy birthday to me!


* like all the best people, I had jaundice
** possibly a little artistic licence here
*** now there's posh
**** long story...

Back In Your Boxxy

Feel free to ignore this post if you are over the age of fifteen, or have a life, or both. It will make no sense to you. Run away now.

*waits*

OK? Anyone still here? Right then...

The Rise Of Boxxy

The Fall Of Boxxy

The same internet machine that could propel you to the top of the Youtube charts and hand you online fame will happily chew you up and spit you back out just as quickly, with zero remorse or consideration for the consequences. This is the reality of the internet today, this case is not the first, and surely not the last. Catie, at least, well and truly learnt the power of the world wide web. Somehow, I doubt that will be of much consolation to her.

Utterly. Bonkers.

Particle Me Elmo*

Whilst putting Freyja to bed the other evening, we were just getting to the end of The Gruffalo when she suddenly came out with "Do you know what, Daddy, when I grow up, I want to be a particle physicist". OK, she didn't really, but I might have to get her these anyway:

The Particle Zoo: Subatomic Particle Softies

Not bad for a fiver each. Oh, hang on, shocking £/$ exchange rate recalculation coming up, more like £6.50! Personal favourite is the Gluon (closely followed by the ninja-like Neutrinos!)


* oh come on, I thought that was rather good.

Aphex Twin Girl

I'm sure this is all over the intertubes, but it's very cool (and just the sort of thing I'd like to try with Freyja, if I ever get any free time whatsoever again :)