On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:00:55 -0700 (PDT), Min <quiz.beagle@googlemail.com>
scrawled in the dust...

>On Friday, 1 April 2022 at 19:54:06 UTC+1, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 31-Mar-22 22:42, Clive Arthur wrote:
>> > On 31/03/2022 19:43, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> >> On 31-Mar-22 18:14, Mike McMillan wrote:
>> >>> ICBAM but, Aunty had a policy years back whereby to ensure they were
>> >>> not at
>> >>> the ransom of one manufacturer, they specified their requirements and
>> >>> companies were invited to tender to supply to that specification; I
>> >>> think
>> >>> they would require three suppliers for a given product.
>> >>
>> >> I suppose that's why we ended up with speaker designs like the LS3/5 &
>> >> 5A.
>> >>
>> >> (There is a LS3/5a V3 still available, if you have around £2,200 to
>> >> spare.)
>> >>
>> >
>> > I still have my LS3/5A speakers bought with a staff discount. I seem to
>> > recall they were £50 or £150, but maybe not - with no mortgage or kids
>> > and living with parents, what did money matter?
>> >
>> > They still work, though I'm sure my ears have probably degraded.
>> >
>> Given inflation over the intervening years, I wonder how your £50 or
>> £150 compares in purchasing power with the £2,200 current asking price?
>>
>> --
>> Sam Plusnet
>When my Dad was out in Borneo (1963-4) he bought a Grundig portable reel-to-
>reel, which I still have and worked last time I used it...

We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:00:55 -0700 (PDT), Min <quiz.beagle@googlemail.com>
> scrawled in the dust...
>
>> On Friday, 1 April 2022 at 19:54:06 UTC+1, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>> On 31-Mar-22 22:42, Clive Arthur wrote:
>>>> On 31/03/2022 19:43, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>>>> On 31-Mar-22 18:14, Mike McMillan wrote:
>>>>>> ICBAM but, Aunty had a policy years back whereby to ensure they were
>>>>>> not at
>>>>>> the ransom of one manufacturer, they specified their requirements and
>>>>>> companies were invited to tender to supply to that specification; I
>>>>>> think
>>>>>> they would require three suppliers for a given product.
>>>>>
>>>>> I suppose that's why we ended up with speaker designs like the LS3/5 &
>>>>> 5A.
>>>>>
>>>>> (There is a LS3/5a V3 still available, if you have around £2,200 to
>>>>> spare.)
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I still have my LS3/5A speakers bought with a staff discount. I seem to
>>>> recall they were £50 or £150, but maybe not - with no mortgage or kids
>>>> and living with parents, what did money matter?
>>>>
>>>> They still work, though I'm sure my ears have probably degraded.
>>>>
>>> Given inflation over the intervening years, I wonder how your £50 or
>>> £150 compares in purchasing power with the £2,200 current asking price?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sam Plusnet
>> When my Dad was out in Borneo (1963-4) he bought a Grundig portable reel-to-
>> reel, which I still have and worked last time I used it...
>
> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.

Some years back (in the days of 1/4 inch tape still being well-used in the
arts and drama department), I created an editing exercise for my students
to complete; I took a recording I had made for radio where a dentist had
explained about ‘They are a nuisance when they come and a nuisance when
they go’ and all the years in between when we need to look after our teeth
(Oh!, hello Pam, I didn’t see you there!). The senior grade dentist went on
to explain that he didn’t think that many dentists entered the profession
solely for the money…. Well I edited this section and played the original,
followed by the edited version in which he had become a very mercenary
dentist; I provided each student with a copy of the original and the means
to cut and join the words in this to reverse the meaning - some were very
good at it and I think they all enjoyed the exercise!

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 02/04/2022 08:48, Penny wrote:

<snip>

> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.

The demo on a Beeb training course was "Good evening. This is the
British Broadcorping Casteration." Plus Karen Carpenter appearing to
get a little 'over excited' while singing something or other.

--
Cheers
Clive

Clive Arthur <clive@nowaytoday.co.uk> wrote:
> On 02/04/2022 08:48, Penny wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
>> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.
>
> The demo on a Beeb training course was "Good evening. This is the
> British Broadcorping Casteration." Plus Karen Carpenter appearing to
> get a little 'over excited' while singing something or other.
>

On one occasion, I recorded a percussion piece performed on stage in the
Hexagon in Reading, the piece had an e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y w—i—d—e. dynamic
range (which I was aware of from the rehearsal). I was recording to 16 bit
digital format and kept the peaks down an extra few dB below the usual few
dB’s normally allowed for the difference between rehearsal where musicians
usually ‘save themselves’ for the all out effort of the performance; by
this means I knew the peaks were unlikely to exceed -8 or -10 dB; a safe
margin I felt. All went well and the recording was fine, later when playing
the recording to a friend who was then working at BBC Wood Norton Training
department, he asked for a copy to exercise his ‘winks’ as he called them
when they were being trained to manage mixing and controlling dynamic
range; they needed to know how to make a ‘Radio 2 mix’ and a ‘Radio 3 mix’
- very different animals!

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On Sat, 2 Apr 2022 08:07:29 -0000 (UTC), Mike McMillan
<toodle.pip1@virginmedia.com> scrawled in the dust...

>Some years back (in the days of 1/4 inch tape still being well-used in the
>arts and drama department), I created an editing exercise for my students
>to complete; I took a recording I had made for radio where a dentist had
>explained about ‘They are a nuisance when they come and a nuisance when
>they go’ and all the years in between when we need to look after our teeth
>(Oh!, hello Pam, I didn’t see you there!). The senior grade dentist went on
>to explain that he didn’t think that many dentists entered the profession
>solely for the money…. Well I edited this section and played the original,
>followed by the edited version in which he had become a very mercenary
>dentist; I provided each student with a copy of the original and the means
>to cut and join the words in this to reverse the meaning - some were very
>good at it and I think they all enjoyed the exercise!

I bet they did!
Changing a negative into a positive is all too easy in text, with a slip of
the keyboard. I either miss such slips or ponder over them for a while
before asking the author - "is now" and "is not" - bane of the copy editor.
Much easier to remove the crucial word altogether and leave everything
positive ;)
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

Mike McMillan <toodle.pip1@virginmedia.com> wrote:
> Clive Arthur <clive@nowaytoday.co.uk> wrote:
>> On 02/04/2022 08:48, Penny wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>>> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
>>> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.
>>
>> The demo on a Beeb training course was "Good evening. This is the
>> British Broadcorping Casteration." Plus Karen Carpenter appearing to
>> get a little 'over excited' while singing something or other.
>>
>
> On one occasion, I recorded a percussion piece performed on stage in the
> Hexagon in Reading, the piece had an e-x-t-r-e-m-e-l-y w—i—d—e. dynamic
> range (which I was aware of from the rehearsal). I was recording to 16 bit
> digital format and kept the peaks down an extra few dB below the usual few
> dB’s normally allowed for the difference between rehearsal where musicians
> usually ‘save themselves’ for the all out effort of the performance; by
> this means I knew the peaks were unlikely to exceed -8 or -10 dB; a safe
> margin I felt. All went well and the recording was fine, later when playing
> the recording to a friend who was then working at BBC Wood Norton Training
> department, he asked for a copy to exercise his ‘winks’ as he called them
> when they were being trained to manage mixing and controlling dynamic
> range; they needed to know how to make a ‘Radio 2 mix’ and a ‘Radio 3 mix’
> - very different animals!
>

‘And if you have been reading…’ (to nearly quote John Ebdon - lovely voice
he had too) on another occasion back in the eighties, the same friend was
the ‘Technical Realization’ behind the Radio 4 series ‘Earthsearch’ which
was split into about 20 episodes IIRC. They needed some sound processing
equipment (usually referred to as ‘Fairy Dust’ equipment for all the
special effects and voice processing etc. My friend specified a few items
that were required for the duration of the production time and attempted to
raise a purchase order… But… the bean counters retorted ‘Oh no, we can’t
purchase that equipment - can you not hire the things you want when you
need them?’ they said. Normal hire rates are (or used to anyway) be
calculated to amortise the hirer’s purchase cost over 20 x 1 week hirings -
and the production would go on for at least this long a time frame with
availability of studios, actors and so forth. My friend had some to-ing and
fro-ing but the bean counters were adamant - ‘Hire the Equipment’. So a
deal was done with the supplier who invoiced for equipment hire to the
equivalent of the total purchase price. At the end of the ‘Hire’ the
equipment just wasn’t returned to the hire company. Thereafter, there would
be occasions where another engineer would ask Lloyd if he might borrow that
which you do not have - and the reply would go upon the lines of ‘ Yes, but
don’t forget to not return it won’t you?’ (True story)

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On 02-Apr-22 8:48, Penny wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:00:55 -0700 (PDT), Min <quiz.beagle@googlemail.com>
> scrawled in the dust...
>

>> When my Dad was out in Borneo (1963-4) he bought a Grundig portable reel-to-
>> reel, which I still have and worked last time I used it...
>
> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.

I can date the purchase of our Grundig reel-to-reel quite accurately. It
came with a 'demo' tape of Little Eva's "Do the Locomotion" which was
then somewhere in the top ten.
I'm sure our local electronics shop didn't seek permission to make the
copy, but that didn't occur to me at the time.

--
Sam Plusnet

On Sat, 2 Apr 2022 20:33:06 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> scrawled in
the dust...

>On 02-Apr-22 8:48, Penny wrote:
>> On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:00:55 -0700 (PDT), Min <quiz.beagle@googlemail.com>
>> scrawled in the dust...
>>
>
>>> When my Dad was out in Borneo (1963-4) he bought a Grundig portable reel-to-
>>> reel, which I still have and worked last time I used it...
>>
>> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
>> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.
>
>I can date the purchase of our Grundig reel-to-reel quite accurately. It
>came with a 'demo' tape of Little Eva's "Do the Locomotion" which was
>then somewhere in the top ten.

September 1962*

>I'm sure our local electronics shop didn't seek permission to make the
>copy, but that didn't occur to me at the time.

*Why is it so difficult to part with non-fiction books, even when they are
far from up-to-date and all the info is readily available online?
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 2 Apr 2022 20:33:06 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> scrawled in
> the dust...
>
>> On 02-Apr-22 8:48, Penny wrote:
>>> On Fri, 1 Apr 2022 19:00:55 -0700 (PDT), Min <quiz.beagle@googlemail.com>
>>> scrawled in the dust...
>>>
>>
>>>> When my Dad was out in Borneo (1963-4) he bought a Grundig portable reel-to-
>>>> reel, which I still have and worked last time I used it...
>>>
>>> We had a Grundig reel-to-reel. My brothers would record pop songs from the
>>> radio and splice together snippets of lyrics to create silly/rude stories.
>>
>> I can date the purchase of our Grundig reel-to-reel quite accurately. It
>> came with a 'demo' tape of Little Eva's "Do the Locomotion" which was
>> then somewhere in the top ten.
>
> September 1962*
>
>> I'm sure our local electronics shop didn't seek permission to make the
>> copy, but that didn't occur to me at the time.
>
>
> *Why is it so difficult to part with non-fiction books, even when they are
> far from up-to-date and all the info is readily available online?

Against the day when you need to refer to it and ‘the line is down’?

--
Toodle Pip, Mike McMillan

On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:21:12 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
wrote:

<snip>

Here: let me correct that asterisked part -

>*Why is it so difficult to part with books?

Nick

On Sun, 03 Apr 2022 13:26:59 +0100, Nick Odell
<nick@themusicworkshop.plus.com> scrawled in the dust...

>On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:21:12 +0100, Penny <spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>wrote:
>
><snip>
>
>Here: let me correct that asterisked part -
>
>>*Why is it so difficult to part with books?
>
>Nick

Sadly, I still regret giving away some of my fiction collection - books I
can no longer borrow from the library and am unlikely to find in charity
shops :((
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 02-Apr-22 23:21, Penny wrote:

>
> *Why is it so difficult to part with non-fiction books, even when they are
> far from up-to-date and all the info is readily available online?

Tell me about it.
There are places in this house where you have to turn sideways to get
through.
Do you keep or discard[1] fiction?

[1] In an environmentally sensitive, community sensitive way, obv.

--
Sam Plusnet

Chris <chris.mcmillan@ntlworld.com> writes:

> Rosalind Mitchell <walneyrose@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Chris <chris.mcmillan@ntlworld.com> writes:
>>
>>> Kate B <elvira@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> On 28/03/2022 20:03, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>>>> On 28-Mar-22 9:16, Mike Ruddock wrote:
>>>>>> The app sometimes offers to play you the whole piece. I haven't tried
>>>>>> it with pieces whistled or hummed . . .
>>>>>
>>>>> That last bit is what I need.
>>>>>
>>>>> When I find myself whistling/humming/ti-tum ti-tum/La la laring (etc.)
>>>>> some stuck tune which I know very well, but cannot for the life of me
>>>>> remember its title...
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Well, I tried this on the hauntingly familiar music that plays when you
>>>> access the page for Robin's funeral. I knew it was called Pavane and was
>>>> French but couldn't immediately remember if it was Fauré or Ravel.
>>>> Shazam confidently asserted that it was written by someone called Paul
>>>> Anthony Adams (I mean, not even John or Adolphe) and available on some
>>>> compilation easy listening album from Apple Music. That's a bit of a
>>>> fail, I'd say.
>>>>
>>>
>>> I haven’t listened to that, it’ll be Faure and his dead Infanta.
>>
>> If Fauré wrote the Dead Infanta then my memory is unRaveling...
>>
>> Rosie
>>
>
> Because I am rapidly losing the plot in all parts of my life, Rosie.

Join the club, Chris.

IIRC I was still a sprightly thirty-something when I originally joined
umra. Now look at me...

Rosie

On Sun, 3 Apr 2022 20:09:16 +0100, Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> scrawled in
the dust...

>On 02-Apr-22 23:21, Penny wrote:
>
>>
>> *Why is it so difficult to part with non-fiction books, even when they are
>> far from up-to-date and all the info is readily available online?
>
>Tell me about it.
>There are places in this house where you have to turn sideways to get
>through.
>Do you keep or discard[1] fiction?
>
>[1] In an environmentally sensitive, community sensitive way, obv.

Sometimes - see regrets mentioned elsewhere earlier.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 31/03/2022 10:09, Kate B wrote:
> On 30/03/2022 20:39, Nick Odell wrote:
>> On Wed, 30 Mar 2022 16:19:40 +0100, John Ashby <johnashby20@yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 30/03/2022 15:28, Penny wrote:
>>>> On Wed, 30 Mar 2022 13:54:35 -0000 (UTC), Chris
>>>> <chris.mcmillan@ntlworld.com> scrawled in the dust...
>>>>
>>>>> Sid Nuncius <nuncius@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> If I tap the microphone symbol on the Google app as though I were
>>>>>> going
>>>>>> to ask it a normal question, at the bottom of the screen there is a
>>>>>> "Search for a song" button.  If you play it the music it
>>>>>> identifies it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It's pretty reliable.  I've just tried it on the Bach Before 7
>>>>>> piece on
>>>>>> Radio 3 and it identified not only the correct piece of Bach, but
>>>>>> also
>>>>>> that it was Paul Tortelier playing it.  I'm impressed.
>>>>>>
>>>>> Berloimy!!
>>>>
>>>> Isn't he the chap who hums when he plays? I think I might have got that
>>>> one.
>>>
>>> More notoriously Glenn Gould. I won't swear that Tortelier didn't do it,
>>> but it's not what he was famous for.
>>>
>>> My favourite Tortelier remark was on the Authentic Performance movement
>>> along the lines of "They must have the baroque instruments, the baroque
>>> bows, the baroque music stands, the baroque microphones."
>>>
>> I know what you mean. In the past I built a few early instruments -
>> mainly to find out in a practical way what made them different from
>> the instruments we make today - and in my opinion they do feel and
>> play and respond differently from their modern counterparts so I think
>> the authentic instrument movement does have a point. But having
>> attended quite a few early music concerts - in the interests of
>> research, of course, I am left wondering how some of the musicians
>> manage to hold their playing postures when they are obviously so much
>> up their own a***s.
>>
>> Nick
>
> I've never actually built an early instrument, but I know a lot of
> people who have, and who play them, and who play modern instruments as
> well, and have been involved in countless performances featuring them.
> There is indeed a ghastly precious fringe of players who obsess about
> tuning and acoustics and exactly which kind of cat provides the right
> kind of gut-string, but they are much rarer now than, say, thirty years
> ago. Pandemic and Brexit and economic straits have brutally sieved out
> the practical professionals from the pernickety niche artists (who are
> often academics in the day job).  There's a lot more cross-over and
> fusion going on, too, with baroque and classical techniques informing
> players of modern instruments and making a huge difference to your
> average Bach or Handel performance, there are modern works being
> composed for harpsichords and counter-tenors, there's a really
> interesting movement bringing together folk musicians and early music
> players.
>
> And we don't even say 'authentic' any more! The usual term now is
> 'Historically Informed Performance Practice'. 'Authenticity' was passé
> even in 1990 when I wrote the paragraph below in a programme article,
> which I quote shamelessly:
>
> If we listen to recordings of the past, it’s clear that all of them,
> from Dolmetsch to Leppard to Gardiner, are using the same source
> material to produce music that sounds radically different - and the
> major cause of the differences is not so much the state of academic
> knowledge but the estimated capability of the audience to understand it,
> not to mention changing tastes. What is also clear, however, is that
> what is really working has much less to do with the level of
> authenticity than with the intensity of music-making. So that became our
> attitude to the music: we did our own research, we engaged the most
> knowledgable musicians that we could find, but the goal was to make
> music with it, to move the audience, not just impress them. This is
> scarcely controversial - I doubt whether any musician would want to do
> otherwise, and everybody has to make certain accommodations between
> written rules and actual practice, most of which will be made in the
> interests of better communication.
>
> oops, going on a bit there. Sorry. Normal service will be resumed
> forthwith.
>

I'm with John - this is an excellent service!

--
Sid
(Make sure Matron is away when you reply)

On 03/04/2022 13:26, Nick Odell wrote:
> On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:21:12 +0100, Penny<spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
> wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> Here: let me correct that asterisked part -
>
>> *Why is it so difficult to part with books?

It isn't usually if you are a BookCrosser. (www.bookcrossing.com)

not that I've been terribly active in the respect since the lockdowns
started, but I was pleased recently to find a home for a whole section
of the alphabet by Sue Grafton.

What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have waiting
on my shelves.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On 04/04/2022 10:26, Jenny M Benson wrote:

> What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
> getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have waiting
> on my shelves.

I learned recently that there is a term for this. BABLE: Book
Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.

I definitely suffer from BABLE.

--
Sid
(Make sure Matron is away when you reply)

On 4.4.22 10:26, Jenny M Benson wrote:
> What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
> getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have waiting
> on my shelves.

I am absolutely convinced I will not achieve reading all the books
waiting to be read.

--
Kosmo Richard W
www.travelswmw.whitnet.uk
https://tinyurl.com/KRWpics

On Mon, 4 Apr 2022 10:26:02 +0100, Jenny M Benson
<NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

>On 03/04/2022 13:26, Nick Odell wrote:
>> On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:21:12 +0100, Penny<spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> Here: let me correct that asterisked part -
>>
>>> *Why is it so difficult to part with books?
>
>It isn't usually if you are a BookCrosser. (www.bookcrossing.com)
>
>not that I've been terribly active in the respect since the lockdowns
>started, but I was pleased recently to find a home for a whole section
>of the alphabet by Sue Grafton.
>
>What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
>getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have waiting
>on my shelves.

I also have far too many unread books but I still keep buying new ones
or picking used ones up from book exchanges. Of the read ones there
are a very few that I have read all the way through more than once but
there are lots that I pick up, flick through and enjoy the memory of
what I had been reading about and what I had been feeling at the time.

Those memories might not always be accurate - I had to call myself out
over an incident of False Memory Syndrome only this weekend - but I
enjoy those memories nevertheless.

Nick

On 04/04/2022 11:02, Nick Odell wrote:
> Of the read ones there
> are a very few that I have read all the way through more than once but
> there are lots that I pick up, flick through and enjoy the memory of
> what I had been reading about and what I had been feeling at the time.

When I selected my latest read (1) from my bookshelves I soon realised
that this was a book I had read before (within the last few years) and
which had been put back on the wrong shelf - should have been in the
"waiting to be passed on" cupboard. It wasn't the sort of book that
would normally justify reading twice and I felt it would be a waste of
precious reading time, but it nagged me that I couldn't remember what
happened. So I have been flicking through it reading the odd paragraph
here and there and finding that I can follow the story perfectly well
that way!

(1) The Bowness Bequest by Rebecca Tope.

--
Jenny M Benson
Wrexham, UK

On Mon, 4 Apr 2022 12:58:55 +0100, Jenny M Benson
<NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:

>The Bowness Bequest by Rebecca Tope.

Oh dear. I had not heard of her and am now reading the free sample on
Amazon Kindle and trying to resist buying her first Lake book. I blame
you, Jenny.

On Monday, April 4, 2022 at 1:43:54 PM UTC+1, Vicky wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Apr 2022 12:58:55 +0100, Jenny M Benson
> <Nemo...@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >The Bowness Bequest by Rebecca Tope.
> Oh dear. I had not heard of her and am now reading the free sample on
> Amazon Kindle and trying to resist buying her first Lake book. I blame
> you, Jenny.

I've read and enjoyed a number of that series - but from the library,
so no problem with shelf space.

Lucky, as the two six-foot tall, six foot wide bookcases in the
dining-room are jam-packed, with several shelves holding two rows
of books! And there are more books in other rooms.

Rosemary

On Mon, 04 Apr 2022 11:02:41 +0100, Nick Odell
<nick@themusicworkshop.plus.com> scrawled in the dust...

>On Mon, 4 Apr 2022 10:26:02 +0100, Jenny M Benson
><NemoNews@hotmail.co.uk> wrote:
>
>>On 03/04/2022 13:26, Nick Odell wrote:
>>> On Sat, 02 Apr 2022 23:21:12 +0100, Penny<spam@labyrinth.freeuk.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>> Here: let me correct that asterisked part -
>>>
>>>> *Why is it so difficult to part with books?
>>
>>It isn't usually if you are a BookCrosser. (www.bookcrossing.com)
>>
>>not that I've been terribly active in the respect since the lockdowns
>>started, but I was pleased recently to find a home for a whole section
>>of the alphabet by Sue Grafton.
>>
>>What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
>>getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have waiting
>>on my shelves.
>
>I also have far too many unread books but I still keep buying new ones
>or picking used ones up from book exchanges. Of the read ones there
>are a very few that I have read all the way through more than once but
>there are lots that I pick up, flick through and enjoy the memory of
>what I had been reading about and what I had been feeling at the time.
>
>Those memories might not always be accurate - I had to call myself out
>over an incident of False Memory Syndrome only this weekend - but I
>enjoy those memories nevertheless.

I have (mostly) stopped buying books, and have taken to re-reading some of
those (apparently deemed worthy by the libraries*) I already own, as audio
books. I suspect I have now been doing this too long to be able to actually
read books in bed without falling asleep. OTOH, I listen to the audio
versions while gardening, cooking, etc - sometimes with the aid of
bluetooth earphones if I'm using noisy machinery.

However, since Sid sent me a link to an ebook site which does seem to have
many of those I regret giving away, I may have to go back to reading in bed
- or during daylight hours.

*I'm sure it's naughty but I now borrow from two county libraries (with
help from a friend who lives in the other one), which has broadened the
available authors - presumably based upon the taste of borrowers, or
librarians, in the different areas). I still haven't manage to verify my
application to Manchester library.
--
Penny
Annoyed by The Archers since 1959

On 04-Apr-22 10:45, Sid Nuncius wrote:
> On 04/04/2022 10:26, Jenny M Benson wrote:
>
>> What I find difficult is that I might reach the end of my life without
>> getting to read (read again in many cases) all the books I have
>> waiting on my shelves.
>
> I learned recently that there is a term for this. BABLE: Book
> Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy.
>
> I definitely suffer from BABLE.

Me too - and I suspect a goodly proportion of umrats are in the same
position.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 04/04/2022 11:02, Nick Odell wrote:
>
> I also have far too many unread books...

I rarely buy these days unless it's some established author [1] so I try
to keep MTBR on NetGalley to 1 page on the basis that there will be
others I want to read coming along before I've finished those.

The ones that I've really enjoyed recently are The Betrayals and Lessons
in Chemistry.

[1] As we are in Venice for 1 more night I'd looked at the latest Donna
Leon but as the reviews from respected umrats (you know who you are)
were not great I am waiting until the price drops a bit.