Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 29-1-2019: The Raven

29th January, 2019.

Right, I’ve officially spoken to Apple Support and put a complaint in.

About — yes, you’ve guessed it — the situation with iMovie.

Remember that, over the past few days?   My copy has been … misbehaving since updates installed last Thursday.

I do have a work-around that gets it functioning for me: today’s intro was made after using it.

I have to hold down Command (⌘) and Option (⌥) whilst starting iMovie: which deletes the preferences.

I’m going to have to see how that goes.

I’m not happy about it: and may have to give Apple support another call.

We’ll have to see.

~≈§≈~

Just to make things a little worse for Apple?

It seems using FaceTime on your iPhone … is a security issue.

As there’s a possibility that you can be eavesdropped on, whilst using the feature … or even NOT using the feature … 

As far as I’m concerned … ?

The company’s having a bad week … 

~≈§≈~

Nik Nak’s Foolish Teaser — 1-4-2017: April Fool’s Day

I know this will sound like a joke … but it’s serious.

And something I meant to mention a day or two ago.

I — like others — have occasion troubles sleeping.   And just as often, use the loo over night.

And like my food, rather salty.

What grabbed my attention, a couple of days ago?

Was news that Japanese research had shown there’s a link between lot’s of salt: and using the loo a lot at nights.

I think cutting down my salt intake might help!

~≈Ü≈~

In other news?

We’re all very well aware that there’s to be a new companion in the upcoming tenth series of Dr Who: Bill Potts, played by Pearl Mackie.

And it turns out Bill is to be the show’s first, openly gay, full time companion,

Great: that’ll help the show’s diversity, I think.

Although I’m very aware that some countries are going to complain.

Personally?

I welcome it.

And, given the new versions of the show’s occasionally had touches of romantic interest between the main characters?

Keep thinking Tilda Swinton should get a phone call from the BBC … 

~≈Ü≈~

The Daily Teaser — 19-1-2015

Hmmm … 

Am I the only one who finds that annoying?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been watching the TV series, Gotham.

And thoroughly enjoying it.

What’s annoyed me, though … ?   Is the fact the show’s on a mid season break: something done by a lot of US TV companies.

Personally … ?

Personally, that’s irritating the hell out of me.

Granted, it’s not fault of Channel Five, the show’s UK distributer.

But I find it annoying.   Having grown up in the UK, where the mid-season break isn’t common, I see a TV series is one whole and entire unit: designed to be watched one episode at a time, over a course of a few months.

Having such a break?   Having such a break is — to me — both annoying, irrational … 

And bloody stupid.

~≈®≈~

The Daily Teaser — 3-10-2014: Never More … !

Hmmm … 

That’s inconvenient.

You’re (possibly) aware that I’m job hunting at the moment, aren’t you?

One of the things I’m obliged to do, in order to receive state benefits, is to head for my local Job Centre every day, to look for work on their public terminals.

I’m not complaining, there.   It gets me out of the flat, and means I can focus on the task in hand: without getting distracted by — say — a huge pile of Deadwood videos.

Except yesterday … ?   Yesterday, those terminals were down.

Through no fault of the Job Centre’s I should add.   It seems the lines connecting the terminals to the internet were playing up.

I can’t help but hope that BT get’s its collective bums in gear.   Granted, I can do my job searching, here at home.

But going somewhere to do it, rather than sitting around, indoors, all day.

~≈Ω≈~

The Brentwood Gazette’s Weekly Teaser: 3-10-2012 The Poe Questions …

It’s official … it’ss now Week Two of Nik Nak’s Weekly Teaser!

Hopefully, people enjoyed them: I do know one or two people have told they … 

Challenging … !

Gosh, I hope so!

I always used to advertise being the most evil quiz master in Essex.

At ANY rate … ?

At ANY rate, here’s the link to this week’s Nik Nak’s Weekly Teaser, at the Brentwood Gazette:

You’ll find this week’s Edgar Allen Poe questions, both here, and there.

Questions.

Q1)        3rd October, 1849, saw Edgar Allan Poe found gibbering in a gutter … in which US city … ?

Q2)        Which bird — according to one of Poe’s more famous poems — famously said “Nevermore” … ?

Q3)        In which Terry Pratchett novel does a character called Quoth — a talking bird of the same species as Poe’s example — first appear … ?

Q4)        Poe’s poem was an inspiration for a John McTeigue directed film about Poe’s last days.   In which year was it released: 2010, 2011 or 2012?

Q5)        More to the point, who played Poe in that film … ?

Q6)        On which date of each year did the mysterious Poe Toaster raise a glass of cognac at the author’s grave … ?

Q7)        More to the point, what was the LAST year the Toaster appeared: 2008, 2009 or 2010 … ?

Q8)        Which of Poe’s short stories was filmed in 1964, with Vincent Price as Prince Prospero, the main character … ?

Q9)        One of Poe’s short stories is called ‘The Cask Of Amontillado’: what type of drink is Amontillado: Madeira, Sherry or Port … ?

Q10)        And finally … which of Poe’s tales is usually agreed to be the first detective story … ?

And here’s last week’s answers: the relevant links are on the Gazette’s page …

A1)        The Council of Europe.

A2)        47.

A3)        Those languages are Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Irish, Scots Gælic and Manx.

A4)        7: English, Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Lowland Scots, Scots Gælic and British Sign Language.   (There’s still a lot of argument about whether Angloromany counts … )

A5)        3.

A6)        Latin, Cyrillic and Greek.

A7)        23.

A8)        Lingua Franca.

A9)        Spain and France.

A10)         Maltese.

Enjoy those … !

The Raven (2012): Better than Some Ravens I could mention …

The Raven poster

Edgar Allan Poe

John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe

Screen Shot of Mac OS X 10•6•8 on my LCD TV screen

Bruce, on TELLY!

9th August 2012

You know, that’s a hell of a lot of photos for one post, isn’t it?

Isn’t it … ?

It is: especially when you consider that they’re mostly screen shots …

Oh … and a photo of my aging Mac Mini, Bruce, hooked up to my TV set.

I know it sounds daft, but it’s not something I’ve tried that often.

The once I did … ?   Was last night.   Which temporarily blew Bruce’s sound.

Happily, that’s something I’ve been able to reset: mostly by making sure that everything was reseated, and using the Apple Hardware tests on Bruce’s original Install disc.

Which was nice, from where I’m sitting …

But possibly not why this post caught your eye.

You’re probably wondering WHY I had an aging Mac Mini wired into a flat screen tv, aren’t you … ?

I’ll be frank.

I fancied seeing if I could watch the 2012, John McTeigue directed thriller, The Raven, that way.

The answer, there … ?   Is a definite yes.

‹‹•››

10th August, 2012.

Or, ay least, is a definite yes to watching a film on my TV, via Bruce.

You see, the model of TV I have has a vga socket, and matching audio jack: so in the case of films I’ve rented from iTunes — or stubborn video files that refuse to let themselves be converted into a format my TV can play — being able to hook the two up is useful.

And something I fancied doing with the copy I’d got hold of, of the 2012 film, The Raven.

Which — just so you know — isn’t the same as the 2006 film I’d caught at the same time as the DVD version of Black Swan.   The 2006 The Raven is a heap of dung that’s barely even usable as fertiliser … !

This year’s version, with John Cusack … ?

Well … 

‹‹•››

Named after the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, 2012 film, The Raven sees John Cusack as writer, Edgar Allan Poe, in his last days of life: living in Baltimore, hopelessly alcoholic, fast running out of cash … 

And secretly engaged to society débutante, Emily Hamilton: played by Alice Eve.

It’s at the point where our hero is being threatened by an enraged father, and fobbed off by an editor to ready to hire in Longfellow, that Poe is contacted by Inspector Emmett Fields (Luke Evans).

Baltimore’s finest isn’t after an autograph: isn’t even a Poe fan.

Oh, no … 

He’s got a crime scene, with a couple of dead bodies in it: that looks suspiciously like The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Not long after that, one of Poe’s critics is found dead, having been killed by an equally suspiciously familiar looking pendulum.

‹‹•››

Now, I’ve got to confess, I’m asking myself a few questions, after all that lot.

Firstly, was hooking up my aging Mac Mini to my TV worth the time and effort … ?

Absolutely, I think: it let me watch a film I’d’ve not seen in any other way, in something approaching the way a film of that ratio’s meant to be watched.

The next question, of course, was whether the 2012 The Raven was worth watching?

I’m not too sure, actually: I do know it’s one hell of an improvement on the 2006 film of the same name.

Which, frankly, isn’t that hard: Absentia was one hell of an improvement on the 2006 film.

But in and of itself … ?

I’ll be frank with you, I’m thinking that even though The Raven is an enjoyable way to kill some time,  7 handles that idea — of a literary serial killer — with a lot more conviction.

You might want to think about that …

The Raven (2012)★½☆☆☆