2020

[George 618]

Here's a refreshing start to October! Fancy this before breakfast? Only if you're a grey seal! 

[Kitkat 238]

"Sushi" for breakfast? No thank you

[George 618]

Brora is starting to look good in the rich winter light.

[George 618]

Out on my morning walk I spotted a pheasant on a roof and it was looking very alarmed. I've never seen a pheasant on a roof before. Something must have chased it up there and I suspected a cat. Wandered over to get a photo and look who I spotted in the back garden keeping an eye on the pheasant! I think it's a sparrowhawk.

[George 618]

Bit of a stormy rainy cold horrid night out there, think I'll whack the electric blanket on and stay cosy.

 

[George 618]

Here is my 2020 holiday video card to everyone. Have a wonderful 2021 folks.

 

[George 618]

Starting to get a bit cold in the mornings. We have done well. We are into December and this was about the first hard frost of the year.

[George 618]

Don't see this every day. It's a lenticular cloud in a deep blue sky with the moon!

[George 618]

Thought I'd end the year with a wonderful little story as 2020 has a very happy ending for me.

I really enjoy good movies, but for years I've had problems with soundbars and sound systems. The problem isn't the sound so much as not being able to hear what people are saying. Turn the sound up, I can hear them, then there's an explosion that rattles the whole house and blows my eardrums out. It's all very well hearing helicopters over your head and feeling the explosions and being immersed in the action, but what's the point if you can't hear what people are saying?

I've spent good money on 3 expensive systems in the last few years. The last one was a Q Tronics M2, which is one excellent soundbase, but, yes, you guessed it, you can't hear what people are saying when it goes quiet and people talk quietly. You either miss the plot or rewind the movie and turn the volume up. Turn the volume up, and the next thing you know a missile explodes and you're thrown out of your chair with the shockwave. Not being able to hear what people are saying absolutely destroys a good movie regardless of how immersive and atmospheric the rest of the sound is.

Last week, I gave up on the M2, disconnected it in disgust and shoved in a cupboard out of my sight. Next morning I went back onto the internt and did some more research. Well, well, it seemed Yamaha were aware of the problem and had invented something called Clear Voice. There is even a button on their remote control marked as 'Clear Voice'. If you can't hear dialogue, click the button and their new technology kicks in and accentuates dialogue so you can actually hear what people are saying. So I ordered a Yamaha YAS-207 and it arrived this morning.

I've just watched my favourite movie and it was an extremely emotional experience as the Yamaha Clear Voice technology actually does work. I was able to balance the sound bar with the bass speaker and when I clicked the Clear Voice button the dialogue was not just clear but it also sounded natural.

Told you 2020 had a happy ending, despite discovering I had Aspergers last month and the consequent emotional storms that followed. I can't tell you how much of a help the movie The Accountant was in helping me get through that.