This will be short because I should be asleep...but I startled myself awake by falling out of bed, hitting the floor...and then trying to hit the floor. It hit me first. So I'm up for a while. Cleaned up a bit more glitter.
And then I remembered a long ago blog conversation about the shipping forecast and wondered if it were on youtube. It is.
And Stephen Fry reading something that closely resembles the shipping forecast but isn't.
I particularly like 'veering suggestively'.
And, lastly, Sailing By, the music composed for it. And arguably the most calming piece of music in existence.
And then I remembered a long ago blog conversation about the shipping forecast and wondered if it were on youtube. It is.
And Stephen Fry reading something that closely resembles the shipping forecast but isn't.
I particularly like 'veering suggestively'.
And, lastly, Sailing By, the music composed for it. And arguably the most calming piece of music in existence.
60 comments:
Clearly, the floor had it coming. If it doesn't like having glitter on it, it should use its words, not violence!
That shipping forecast totally had me baffled--but even two minutes of it had me LOLing at Stephen Fr's version, thank you!
(I hope you manage to subdue the unexpected adrenaline rush and get some more sleep...)
...I had completely forgotten about the jammy badgers tag. And that story. Goodness.
Hope sleep finds you soon and well, Doc.
The Shipping Forecast is fascinating. He's speaking English but I mostly don't understand him. "Moderate or good, occasionally poor at first." That's kind of useless. I suppose it's weather, it really could be anything.
Stephen Fry's being purposefully gibberish actually makes more sense. Or maybe it's my predisposition to love everything he does.
Many nights I listen to recent shipping forecasts in order to get to sleep.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qfvv
Hope something like that helps you tonight. I still haven't figured out what "becoming cyclonic" means in a shipping bulletin, but I've figured out most of the other language by looking up bits and pieces over time.
Oh, and hearing parts of "Sailing By" that I don't normally get to on the broadcast is delightful. Thank you so much for linking that.
AftSO
I find Sailing By to be almost unbearably miserable. It reminds me of being awake listening to an ancient blue transistor radio, when everyone else in the house was asleep and becoming morbidly convinced that everyone else in the world had died. So I'd stand at the landing window and watch for a car going past, but then I'd be convinced that the person who had been driving it had actually died but slumped in such a way that the car carried on. It was completely stupid my dad snored like he was going for a record, so it's anybody's guess why I thought everyone was dead.
God I was a morbid article!
The shipping forecast is great though, the places in it sound so romantic.
Also:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zs5v7
The Chicken Forecast - issued by the Vet Office - well worth a read!
Lancs. Anon
And by read, I of course meant listen, D'oh!
Lancs. Anon
The Chicken Forecast was very funny, Lancs. "Becoming broiler imminent". There are so many things I would miss out on if I wasn't reading these blogs.
I have to admit to rather liking Ronald Binge's music, both 'Sailing By' and 'Elizabethan Serenade' which I sing very loudly (and off key) whenever it comes on the car radio.
I love the shipping forecast.
Mine is : home, wet, drying shortly, warming, bed soon.
On the other hand I adored the 'UK Theme' which was a mash-up of various regional tunes composed by Fritz Spiegl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF7kzj4lCnE&safe=active
Lancs. Anon
Just found a message from Sherlock under my pillow 'NO kissing John until you've done guitar practice for 1 hour'
That's me told then.
He did promise Mrs N!
(I make that less than three hours of sleep--do you think you can sleep a bit more? Maybe later?)
its good you have someone to remind you to practice Lestrade and someone to remind you to sleep :)
I should think that by the time you'd found the note it was too late, L! Not to mention that that sort of restriction is very unfair to John, especially when he'd had a midnight encounter with the floor.
I'll have to listen to the various links later, but I'm looking forward to it. Thank you, John!
rsf
I'm going to have lunch in a bit... Bacon and avocado, unless anyone has a strong opinion?
That sounds lovely Greg ;-)
do you have much planned for your afternoon or is it practice practice practice?
RSF - it was too late, yeah.
AnonyBob - but it may involve high salt levels, mayo and white bread. Are you sure?
Practice a bit. It's very rainy again...
RR - I will sleep tonight, promise.
This entire flat becomes cyclonic and veers suggestively when bacon is involved.
Lancs. Anon - I love the chicken forecast, ha.
DW - sleep wasn't too bad after a while, thanks.
As a very clever man I trust you to know your perfect salt ingestion levels Greg ;-)
Its so wet here that all the roads are shut AGAIN! :-(
The dogs are certainly cyclonic and veering. And fighting over which one can sit on my feet.
I'm trying to persuade Mycroft to play Christmas tunes with me, and watching John's valiant attempt to move all chewable decorations out of dog reach on the tree. It now has a...layered look.
That problem is that, even if you put the sturdy ones down low, the dogs can swallow them whole before you even notice they're near the tree. Pretty sure we've lost a felt star and some kind of wooden jester that way already.
I think one of them is fairly intent that the whole tree is just a stick waiting to be thrown...
Working in tandem, they could probably fetch it.
Next year they can drag us one home.
We'll get them a sleigh to pull.
And antlers? :D
The dogs would be good in the play they could be our camels but Mrs N said they would scare the goat.
Are you really having a goat?
It is a good idea, Sherlock, but Mrs N is probably right about the goat. Besides, they haven't practiced wearing humps.
YES Raphael's Mum and Dad have goats and chickens and sheep and ducks and they said we could borrow one and his Dad's bringing it especially and its name is Bertha and it's going to eat hay and the Innkeeper gets to hold it on a lead.
Ah yes, that famous story where three kings and two dogs follow a break dancing angel to see a man with a goat...
It sounds great, Sherlock. I can't wait to see you all from my special seat...
I feel sure it's going to be a show to remember.
Not sure I envy you John, having two people to worry about in a school play, it's nerve-making enough when there's only one!
It's NOT kings following an angel there's a STAR.
anon - yeah, and on apocalypse day too....
What time's the apocaplypse due? Before the show, I hope...
or even apocalypse.
Must be right? I'd expect any good apocalypse to happen at midnight.
all that practice and no show :-( that would be sad, if the world is going to end then its at least got to wait until Sherlock has shown off his dancing!
Well, there are apocalypses, and then there are apocalypses... ;D
...I'm not sure I get it.
This one is definitely an apocalypse.
AnonyBob - he will breakdance into the afterlife. Or to the aliens who beam us up...or...as particles in space. I don't know. He'll manage :)
(Did the link not work?)
As long as he gets to dance somewhere that's ok :-) he's worked so hard that he really deserves the chance to show people what he can do :-)
It did. I'm just not sure I get it.
http://cloudfront3.bostinno.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Really-Though.jpeg
this ones funny Lestrade
I found this quite amusing:
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/c28.0.403.403/p403x403/156281_525512540817086_279243560_n.jpg
That IS funny, anon.
Cosmic prank, L? (Or don't you play pranks on April 1 in the UK? Sorry, I have no idea.)
Yeah, we do.
at least it'll be warm if it happens like that Greg :-)
Are you spending your evening practicing or have you done enough that you are allowed to spend it kissing John?
Going back to the Shipping Forecast - the beauty of it is that it makes perfect sense, it's information distilled to the essentials. Which yes, until you understand it, does make it sound confusing, I guess.
It has a lot of English words in it, and that's about all I can say for it so far as sense goes--to me. :)
Is Sherlock all excited for tomorrow?
some people could learn lessons from the shipping forecast.
Is it just me or does that 'Sailing by' music sound a bit like Lord of the Rings in parts?
It sounds like it to me too, Trills.
rsf
And to me, Trills.
Then again, the part that sounds familiar in Sailing By also sounded familiar to me in the Shire theme. There was a song we sang at church camp that has some of the same note sequences.
rsf
It's a good thing there aren't any South American camelids in the show or else there might be an alpaca-lypse.
AftSO
*groan*
Ha!
*adding my groan to Anon's above*
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