The grumpy thread

[Stanky]

12 minutes ago, Agila said:

most vulnerable and least vulnerable road users I put hedgehogs and tank drivers respectively

[montytom]

14 minutes ago, Agila said:

The instructor in mine was terrible last time. He didn't like me because for most vulnerable and least vulnerable road users I put hedgehogs and tank drivers respectively. (not funny but true, CBA.)

Best think about them is the "discussion group" normally every couple of hours in the canteen.

With this virtual cpc I am by myself in the boardroom at work.i really think the people like the sound of their own voices and secondly dont you always seem to have the one person who keeps slowing the pace down to recall stories of days past. 

[eddyramrod]

4 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

 society needs musicians,

Does it ever!  Have you listened to anything that's been written, or even covered, in the last 40 years or so?  Almost without exception it's meritless depressing shit.  I really wish I could write and play music!  Sadly, I know it's never going to happen, I struggle enough to write prose.

 

And yes, you're right, while we do need the sciences covering, we do also need some arts.  Enjoyment is vital to the mental health of the nation.

[Mr Laurence]

52 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Does it ever!  Have you listened to anything that's been written, or even covered, in the last 40 years or so? 

Yes, plenty of it! I won't deny that the majority of stuff written for chart radio is total dross, but the exact same could be said of songs from 40 years ago. If you're prepared to search it out (I'd argue that services such as Spotify have made this easier than ever) , then there's no end of spectacular music written recently within every genre.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

As I've said before, don't bother listening to the radio.  Go to www.bandcamp.com and search by 'Genre' and I'm sure you can find something you like within 10 minutes.  I've bought literally hundreds of albums from there (and have my own page).  I highly recommend it.

[Tamworthbay]

54 minutes ago, Mr Laurence said:

Yes, plenty of it! I won't deny that the majority of stuff written for chart radio is total dross, but the exact same could be said of songs from 40 years ago. If you're prepared to search it out (I'd argue that services such as Spotify have made this easier than ever) , then there's no end of spectacular music written recently within every genre.

This ^^^^^ there were some good songs in the 50s but plenty of utter shite too, the same is true today and every time in between. I think it can be harder for less tech savvy people to access newer stuff these days as there is so much of it and most streaming services use algorithms which, whilst designed to present you with things you like, prevent you finding new stuff.

[Asimo]

All of my Xmas booze is gone already.

Only 6 months to go and the nights will be drawing in.

[sierraman]

At work we’ve got a WhatsApp group, I’ve left it today because I’m absolutely sick to death of the constant news feed about what’s not working for someone or ‘how do I do this’. It’s boring and adds nothing to my life whatsoever, I’ve got WhatsApp to keep in touch with friends and family not a constant ticker of boring work updates. 

[Liggle]

56 minutes ago, sierraman said:

At work we’ve got a WhatsApp group, I’ve left it today because I’m absolutely sick to death of the constant news feed about what’s not working for someone or ‘how do I do this’. It’s boring and adds nothing to my life whatsoever, I’ve got WhatsApp to keep in touch with friends and family not a constant ticker of boring work updates. 

I feel your pain, even with it muted or occasionally archiving the chat its still bloody intrusive. 

[BorniteIdentity]

4 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

As I've said before, don't bother listening to the radio.  Go to www.bandcamp.com and search by 'Genre' and I'm sure you can find something you like within 10 minutes.  I've bought literally hundreds of albums from there (and have my own page).  I highly recommend it.

You’re possibly listening to the wrong stations. 

I would say FIP from Radio France is the greatest station on the planet. It’s eclectic, engrossing, enriching and other things beginning with E. It’s stunning, and to my mind exactly what The BBC should be doing as a mixed effort between Radios 3 and 6. 

I don’t think anyone’s listening to Heart to feed their soul. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its place though. 

[warren t claim]

On 12/20/2020 at 3:24 PM, myglaren said:

Call from youngest daughter.  Flat tyre and her electric pump doesn't work - fag lighter socket U/S.

Went up, couldn't get my car close enough to use my pump.  Shifted her car to a flat bit and tried, nothing happening.

Remove wheel - had to use the scissor jack as my trolley jack wouldn't quite go under the sill.

Took it to tyre place (National, I think) and it is an unusual size that they don't stock but have one in that was to be returned.

Otherwise wait until Tuesday.  She needs her car for work so bought it - Michelin, £199.00

I was expecting about £85.

I fit Sailuns, usually around £40.  They had hundreds of them, just not her size.

What size is it? I'll happily let you know what the cost price is.

[beko1987]

2 hours ago, sierraman said:

At work we’ve got a WhatsApp group, I’ve left it today because I’m absolutely sick to death of the constant news feed about what’s not working for someone or ‘how do I do this’. It’s boring and adds nothing to my life whatsoever, I’ve got WhatsApp to keep in touch with friends and family not a constant ticker of boring work updates. 

I did the same 2 months ago. No ones noticed yet. My job (one of them) is 1st line app support and it spread to bloody WhatsApp. 

I've got teams on my phone cos it makes me visible when in reality I'm having a shit/gone out but I can turn that off and that's that.

[Cavcraft]

National are absolute robbers (price wise) these days, amazed they're still in business to be honest.

[cobblers]

The story that a fiat 500 has a rare size of tyre and they just have one at an astronomical price that they were going to return is 100% complete bollocks, they've had your pants down big time man. He was probably leaning with his hand covering the tyre label of a suitable linglong £40 job while telling you that

A 500 has got to be one of the most popular cars on the road, even if its got alloys etc, there's no way any tyre is genuinely £200 unless it's a foot wide.

[wuvvum]

13 hours ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

If you've ever tried to solve a Bach chorale then you'll understand how music (for instance) teaches skills that can be applied to a wide range of other areas.

How does one go about solving a Bach chorale?? 

[High Jetter]

Maths, pure maths.

[anonymous user]

26 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

How does one go about solving a Bach chorale?? 

More to the point, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

[GrumpiusMaximus]

34 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

How does one go about solving a Bach chorale?? 

https://vandykemusic.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/4/1/43415261/guide_to_bach_chorales.pdf

http://www.choraleguide.com/

Dozens of simultaneous 'rules' to follow to harmonise in the style of JS Bach.  It's difficult and you can find yourself cornered very easily.  It's part of the A-Level music syllabus and a very standard part of formal musical learning (and most Universities will teach it too in the first year), as JS Bach is where most of the study of Western Common Practice music really gets going (i.e. early Baroque rather than Renaissance) in these contexts.

I've always been pretty crap at it.  But if you look at the sheer number of simultaneous factors that you have to take into account to harmonise the Chorale and then how there is a 'rule ordering' if you can't follow them all, it's absolutely nuts.  It's high-level, methodical problem-solving and a process of logic and if you're really, really good you can make it sound nice, too.  It's mathematics with a touch of aesthetics and if you can manage it, you can manage a lot of similar processes as it's a highly relevant general skill across a number of industries (as I'm sure you know).

 

[High Jetter]

Musical, or black?

[GrumpiusMaximus]

22 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Maths, pure maths.

Every time you write a parallel fifth, Bach kills a kitten.  And remember the sodding leading note to tonic...

[High Jetter]

...and gin. The 7th tho...

[wuvvum]

I wonder if Bach consciously came up with all those rules for harmonisation, or whether they were an unintended consequence of his composing?

[GrumpiusMaximus]

5 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

I wonder if Bach consciously came up with all those rules for harmonisation, or whether they were an unintended consequence of his composing?

Just his style, not particularly conscious.  Not that I can cite examples (I know people that can...) but he breaks the rules quite often (hence the rule ordering) as it wasn't a conscious choice as such.  It's just that people have sat down over the years, analysed the chorales and ascertained the general principles which apply the vast majority of the time.  The standard Riemenschneider edition has 371 of them - but there are more:

http://www.bach-chorales.com/

Quite a famous one...

http://www.bach-chorales.com/BWV0303.htm

Yeah.

[wuvvum]

I'm not going to climb too far down that particular rabbit hole - I enjoy listening to Bach at "face value" for want of a better term, and I think it'd spoil the enjoyment if I started analysing it too much.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

There are a lot of musicians that agree with you!  And I'm not trying to say that you can't be a musician without studying them, either - unlike some of the elitist twats out there.  I studied them as part of my degree but I was always crap at them.  It's how my dyslexia got picked up in the end.  Which I'd been masking for years and years without realising.

[myglaren]

11 hours ago, cobblers said:

The story that a fiat 500 has a rare size of tyre and they just have one at an astronomical price that they were going to return is 100% complete bollocks, they've had your pants down big time man. He was probably leaning with his hand covering the tyre label of a suitable linglong £40 job while telling you that

A 500 has got to be one of the most popular cars on the road, even if its got alloys etc, there's no way any tyre is genuinely £200 unless it's a foot wide.

It was needs must, she can't be without her car and of course it cleverly comes without a spare wheel.

Not a Fiat 500, a Megane C+C.

She has no way of getting to work without it.  If it had happened at work she could have used one of their cars and had  someone up there do it.

Not sure now what the size was.

I never use those places now.  Buy Sailun tyres from Oponeo and the garage I use fits them.

[The Moog]

National are absolute robbers (price wise) these days, amazed they're still in business to be honest.

Interestingly had the motorhome in for a pair of new front tyres this morning.

All booked and paid for.

Turn up and first thing was a complaint that it wouldn't fit in the bays.

Then muttering about his jack's only went up to 2.5 ton (which I don't believe)

Finally he couldn't find the torque settings for the wheels so couldn't fit them.

Came home with no new tyres and phoned up to cancel order.

Would not recommend.

[Cavcraft]

Have you got an F1 Auto Centre near you, @The Moog? They're usually very cheap and you can pre-order.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

15 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

You’re possibly listening to the wrong stations. 

I would say FIP from Radio France is the greatest station on the planet. It’s eclectic, engrossing, enriching and other things beginning with E. It’s stunning, and to my mind exactly what The BBC should be doing as a mixed effort between Radios 3 and 6. 

I don’t think anyone’s listening to Heart to feed their soul. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its place though. 

Maybe - but I can't say that I miss the adverts, the audio compression, the lack of agency on the playlist or the inane chatter of most DJs (and I'm not saying that's the case for you!).  I have a music collection that I could spend a lifetime picking over that spans a wide range (Balinese Gamelan is, sadly, underrepresented...) and I only usually bother listening to Radio 4 for the documentaries.

There absolutely is a place for commercial music radio, just not for me.

[strangeangel]

17 hours ago, sierraman said:

At work we’ve got a WhatsApp group, I’ve left it today because I’m absolutely sick to death of the constant news feed about what’s not working for someone or ‘how do I do this’. It’s boring and adds nothing to my life whatsoever, I’ve got WhatsApp to keep in touch with friends and family not a constant ticker of boring work updates. 

 

I have to have a work mobile, and I'll be fucked if I'm carting two handsets around so I put the work SIM in the second slot of my latest Chinese wonder phone. This is great, except for the reason you state - work WhatsApp, one group being compulsory... anyway the Xiaomi came up trumps. It has a feature called Dual Apps, where you can run separate instances of the same app for each phone number. So work WhatsApp doesn't turn up as a thread in mine, but in it's own separate instance of the app, where it gets muted and I can check it at my leisure (about once a month - just done it now and there were 335 posts 🤣). I've assigned different ring and text alert sounds to the work SIM, so these can also be ignored as required. Defo recommended.