Soundbar

I somewhat spontaneously ordered a new soundbar for my tv over the weekend, and it got delivered today.  And I'm wondering whether I've been too hasty.  It doesn't support DTS audio - and I own quite a lot of physical media that plays DTS.  Admittedly it supports other audio formats that to my untrained ears probably sound just as good, and it plays Dolby Atmos which is better (but not available on most of my physical media), but still wish I'd known this before.  I'm worried.  I'll probably still set it up (or try to set it up) with my home entertainment system this weekend, but I may have made a mistake.  If I can't get it working satisfactorily over the weekend, I will have to consider returning it.  And besides, I think my priority should be buying a new telly rather than a new soundbar - so I'm not quite sure why I even ordered this.  D'oh. 

Ice Hockey

As I was watching some of the Stanley Cup playoffs, I kind of wished I had played some ice hockey when I was younger.  After all, I played field hockey and wasn't a bad player - and I think maybe the inherent aggression in ice hockey may have suited me.  But there was, and is, one major drawback - I cannot skate.  Yet another activity to add to that long list of things that I have never been able to do - roller skating, skateboarding, skiing, etc.  I remember at secondary school there were a couple of times when we played a form of ice hockey indoors (and obviously not on ice) - and I was really good at it.  When I Google it, it says it's called "ball hockey".  I wish that was a bigger sport.   

Bad back

After 2 weeks of having a bad back, I rotated my mattress back round to how it was - and had the first comfortable night's sleep for a while.  I can't stress enough how much better one feels after a decent night of sleep.  It's not just the mattress, we're also at that time of year when we have perfect temperature.  Warm enough during the day to enjoy the outdoors, cool enough at night to help you sleep.  Unfortunately, it's also the time of year when insects reappear.  Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in killing all those spiders I've been seeing inside the house.  My legs have already been ravaged by insect bites.  Thankfully it's not quite shorts weather yet.     

Playoffs

A good weekend for sports.  The (ice) hockey and basketball playoffs started.  Though I cannot say that I approve of playoff games being shown exclusively on streaming networks.  And we had some good action in the Premier League as we come to the business end of the season.  I must admit to immensely enjoying Man City beating Arsenal and making the title race a lot more interesting.  It's not that I care for Man City, I just really hate Arsenal.  Which also makes the plight of Tottenham Hotspur kind of confusing - because my hatred of Arsenal means that by default I quite like Spurs.  But it would be refreshing to see a big club get relegated, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the run-in plays out.  And I'm glad that Palace are going to have a strong say on both the title and relegation battles - we have got games against both Man City and Arsenal, and if West Ham beat us tomorrow then Spurs are in real trouble.  And I think there is every chance that might happen, since our focus should be on Europe and winning the Europa Conference League rather than the Premier League.     

Star Spangled Banner

Could you please stand up and remove your headwear for the playing of the American national anthem (a special cover of the anthem, appropriate for Trump's America).

 

Tornado

There was an unusual weather event on the water just outside Seattle earlier this week:

Yes, that is a tornado.  Well, technically, it is a waterspout.  But tornado sounds better.  I wish I could take credit for the photo, but I cannot.  I wish I lived somewhere with a water view.  But we had some unusually stormy weather that caused this phenomenon.  The weather is nuts - around the same time there was a tornado west of Seattle, if you headed east then I think Snoqualmie Pass was closed due to heavy mountain snow.  Very uncommon for mid-April.        

Kraken

It was the last game of the season for the Seattle Kraken today.  They blew their chances of playoff hockey with a pretty dreadful second half of the season.  They've still only made the playoffs in one season of their existence - which is rather sad.  And perhaps even sadder, I still haven't been to see them live.  That has to change.  I did look into getting tickets earlier this year, but was quite surprised at how expensive tickets were - especially for quite a mediocre team - and didn't really pursue it further.  I suspect I might get better value if I try to get tickets at the last minute.  Next season.