Digital Cinema and My Thoughts for the Day

I love technology. It makes things easier, more accessible and provides more choice. But I heard something this morning on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House that made me think again as to whether it is all good. Apparently more and more of our cinemas are being converted to digital. The film projectors are being replaced by digital high definition LCD and LED projectors. Projectionists were actually lamenting the loss of film and describing how they no longer need to supervise the screenings, thread the film and switch reels in the middle of a movie. It's all being done automatically. In fact, they don't need many staff at all. Someone can visit just once a week to prepare the automated schedule and all the films are shown in the correct order and at the right times. So there are huge savings to be made - less projectionists and less staff overall. But what is lost is the quality, that film grain you get when light is shone through celluloid. The movement you get with film. With natural colours and tones, you know it's alive and real. Now it's all about crystal clear clarity, high definition images and digital sound. I understand that the complete switch to digital is inevitable, just like 35mm camera film, pretty much consigned to history and something I'll need to tell my son about one day.

I'm no expert on world events, but you don't have to be a genius to know that all is not right with the world. In fact, like many, I have little optimism and I fear for our future. The Occupy movements that have sprung up in cities across the world are lampooned in the mainstream media. But if you look at the message - the real message, you will see that the protesters too believe something is seriously wrong. They cite capitalism as the reason but it is in truth our system of capitalism that makes the rich richer and untouchable and the poor poorer and vulnerable. It's about fairness and opportunity for all. And that certainly isn't working and is wrong. So what happens? Well, I am just waiting for them to elect an official representative and form a political party. I wonder then how many people would support and vote for them? I suspect the number would be high. When you are desperate and when you have lost all confidence in the system that looks after you, that provides and offers you security, you look elsewhere. You are desperate, perhaps with nowhere to go in life, no money, in crippling debt and hungry. You will do anything to find a way out. So if someone comes along with a message, someone who understands your hardship and someone who promises a real alternative, you will follow them. Unless something changes in our current system of government and if the standard of living for everyday people doesn't improve, then this is something I can see happening.

My despair for our broken world is somewhat lessened by the marvellous work of the BBC's Children In Need appeal and the £26 million raised for our vulnerable, poor, disabled and abused young people. For a country that claims to be broke, when it comes to good causes, we always come up trumps. The same has been true of past appeals - famine in Africa and natural disasters - we always manage to find the funds to help. This makes me feel good and it's something we should be proud of, and rightly so.

So where will the world go in the coming new year? The prospect of conflict over Iran's nuclear programme gets nearer by the day and seems inevitable given their recent rhetoric. And what of their supporters, China and Russia. Do we really want to provoke them into choosing sides. I think not. And now we have renewed protests and violence in Egypt, when all had thought the country had been reborn. And of course there's Syria and its brutal crackdown on protesters, its own people. Again, any intervention could only result in wider conflict - and Syria too has its supporters who would make dangerous adversaries.
And finally we have our own continent of Europe and the financial crisis facing the Euro. Where will this end? Pessimistic, moi? You bet.

Finally, I've been reminded by a regular broadcaster on YouTube that the messages we receive through our UK mainstream media may not be complete and may be lacking facts. I would encourage people to look outside, to get a different view and perspective on world events. I cite the Occupy protests, particularly those taking place in London. Why do we think of the protesters as hippies and disillusioned students? Because that's what we're being fed. Look deeper and you'll find that the protests are made up of a broad spectrum of different people from all walks of life - all of which have come to the same conclusion. Watch a report from the BBC on the Occupy protests and then compare this to one from say Russia Today... Some could argue the different perspective is to emphasise the natural opposition to Capitalism in general over a perceived 'fair' system of communism. Maybe... Time and public opinion will tell.

A secret analogue user

Well it seems now that we are a totally digital household. Radio, music and TV - it's all delivered digitally in crystal clear sound and vision. Everything is so convenient as a result. We watch what we want to when we want to, we listen to the music we like and tune in to radio stations from all over the UK, and the World. OK, 'digital' has its advantages but I do long for good old analogue. I don't want to let go. It's not that I was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age. I tok to it quite well. I knew it was coming and knew of the benefits it would provide. For my parents, the transition has been long and hard. I do understand the calls for things to remain as they were. What was wrong with analogue? The truth is, nothing. It worked and has served us well. But more is better it seems. We have a plethora of TV channels but I still find myself watching the same things. The availibility of radio stations from all over the UK has provided me with 24 hour phone-ins and music of a thousand genres. LBC 'London's Biggest Conversation' is possibly my favourite station. I remember it from when I was very young. Back then it was just an FM station broadcasting to London and Kent. My nan and grandad listened to it and it would play constantly on the transistor radio they had in their kitchen. BBC Radio 5 is good at night. Again lively phone-ins provide bedtime entertainment and these too can be quite lively, sometimes harling back to the days of James Whale.
But I still find myself longing for cassettes and vinyl. I love seeing a physical tape working and a vinyl record spinning on a record deck. I love the crackle and hiss, and I miss it. MP3 has a cold crispness to it. Yes the quality is excellent, but it's missing something, almost as if it isn't alive.
It seems though that we are stuck with digital. It'll never go away, just get faster, clearer and more available. But all the while analogue remains available to us, albeit pushed aside and confined to the darkest recesses of lofts and cupboards all over the land, we should enjoy it while we can. I fell I didn't really have a chance to say goodbye properly to the analogue TV signal. It deserved much more than just a switch being thrown somewhere in Yorkshire. It had served us well and will be remembered with fondness.
So in this new digital age, where everything is clear and sharp, I'm quite happy being a 'secret analogue user'.

Goodbye Analogue, I'll miss you...

So that's it. Analogue TV signals were turned off last night in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. We are now a digital only area... well apart from analogue radio of course, which I don't think will ever disappear.
No longer will I be asked to tune my parents TV or video recorder. I will miss the fuzzy pictures, the ghosting and the interference from the fridge compressor.
Now we have clean, crisp digital, where either it is or it isn't. No fuzziness, we know what pixels look like, pictures are made up like a jigsaw. The red button now means something to so many more people who up to now regarded it as a thing of the rich, the privileged or 'those with a satellite'.
But we now have a TV that does nothing. It's in the kitchen but it's not connected to the roof aerial and it doesn't have a digital tuner. I wonder how many more TV's now sit redundant across the country awaiting an uncertain fate...

Wedding afterglow

I notice people are beginning to reminisce about the wedding and the TV is desparately trying not to let go completely, some channels still re-running the highlights. There is much speculation as to where the Royal Couple have disappeared to. Frankly, I don't really care. Chances are, they are just down the road from here at Sandringham and if I made enough noise, they'd probably hear me. Hopefully they are getting some peace and quiet away from the relentless glare of the media. There is though a warmish glow lingering from Friday. It prompts the odd ridiculous conversation about the wedding and how beautiful the bride looked - as if they'd have had her looking a mess. 'I hope she doesn't turn out like Diana' and 'he's more sensible than his father' are amongst some of the phrases I've heard so far. Many seem to agree that Anne could have found something a little less 80's and that Beatrice's hat was simply silly. The gossip in various hairdressers and co-op stores up and down the land will persist for weeks and possibly months to come.

I'm amazed at the weather today, it's really quite good. A little windy maybe but bright, clear and sunny. We did a little shopping earlier in Wisbech and I played 'spot the English person', a regular source of amusement for it is common knowledge that mass imigration has now made English people of British origin a minority group in many parts of the UK. I'm just stating a fast and nothing more. I actually find it amusing.
I picked up a cheap digital TV box in Asda - my parents had requested a cheap one for their kitchen TV. I thought £19 was quite reasonable so bought that and had it installed and working in no time. In August we begin to lose our trusty analogie signal here as everything is converted to the DVB standard. I'll probably mark the event with a special entry nearer the time but I'll always have happy memories of trying to position the antenna for optimum picture and thinking I'd got it just right only to find that just one of the four channels was watchable... Oh what fun. It's hard to imagine that my son will only know digital though I expect FM and Medium Wave will be with us for a few years yet. We'll see...

Poorly boy

My son has developed a nasty cough - no doubt another bug he's picked up from playschool. I went up to him a few minutes ago as he was calling for us and while I was cluddling him, he threw up, and yes - I wasn't quick enough... Great. So looks like he's in with us tonight and he'll be at home with me tomorrow. We'll call for an appointment with the doc in the morning.
Poor lad - he does look pitiful. I know how he feels... I was in his position numerous times as a child - the scary thing is it really doesn't feel that long ago(!)
As an aside, my mother called me earlier this evening. BTW, my parents live just 3 miles down the road in the next village. I'll explain how this came to be sometime soon. Anyway, she called me to say that her digital TV box had 'gone bang' and now doesn't work. OK. She wanted me to drive down and re-tune her TV to analogue so she could watch her favourite TV programmes. I reminded her they have a perfectly good digi-box in the kitchen that they don't use - why not use that? Oh yes, that's a good idea...
My mum has a habit of doing things like this. She called this morning asking if I could take her to town. I had to remind her that I don't have the car. She said she would walk the 20 miles (there and back) instead as she couldn't wait until Friday - when I next have the car. What she doesn't know is that we all know she continues to smoke despite having given up 20 years ago... Quite how she thinks we don't know is startling given the fact the house is normally filled with the smell of cigarette smoke and is diluted with copious amounts of air freshner and perfume. For some reason, this serves only to intensify the smell. We all play along with it. There's a perfectly good little village store just down the road from them but as my dad goes there for the paper each morning, she fears getting found out so that's out. Oh what fun...
Right, I'd better go and see if I can squeeze into my bed. I reckon it's going to be a long night...