Anzac Day

I'm a day late, but Happy Anzac Day!  A day that I wouldn't know existed apart from seeing it honored when I was watching some recordings of Aussie-rules football games over the weekend.   I know that it occurs on the date of the first Gallipoli landings in the First World War.  Yet another tragic campaign in that war that resulted in heavy casualties, despite the heroism and sacrifice of so many.  And obviously not being from Australia or New Zealand and never having been there (though I hope to go one day), I do not commemorate it nor do I really appreciate it as much as I probably should do.  But if Anzac Day is not well known in the UK, then it is practically unknown in the US - especially since the US didn't enter WW1 until well after the Gallipoli campaign.  But apparently a special dawn service was held yesterday at the Museum of History & Industry in Seattle, close to where my office used to be.  I don't know how many years they've been holding such an event, but I've never heard of it in all my time here.  But then again, why would I...     

Conspiracy

It wouldn't surprise me if this most recent shooting incident involving Trump is staged.  It feels like it.  Just like his "assassination" attempts.  The timing just seems too suspicious.  And even if it was "real", I don't believe anything Trump says and I certainly have no sympathy for him.  He only has himself to blame - he is the boy who cried wolf.  

Relentlessness

The only thing more relentless than my workload right now is the media coverage of Trump.  It feels like he hasn't been out of the headlines for a single day in about the last 10 years.  It's unceasing and thoroughly deflating.  Trump Anxiety Disorder is a real thing, and a real problem.  And I imagine I don't suffer from it nearly as much as an awful lot of other people.  There's a certain irony in talking about mental illness caused by Trump, when Trump himself suffers from narcissistic personality disorder, malignant narcissism, delusional disorder and cognitive decline.

Concerts

I was having a look at the Coachella lineup this year, and it shocked me how bad it looked:

I only recognize a handful of the artists who performed, and even less of those that I would actually have been interested in seeing perform - especially of the headliners.  Is this a case of Coachella really declining in quality, or simply a case of me getting old and out of touch with current music?  I honestly don't know, probably a bit of both.  Now I have been to Coachella once before.  It was a long time ago - and indeed I tried to work out when it was based on who was performing.  I think it was in 2008, though apparently it wasn't particularly memorable because I barely remember it at all.  And this was the lineup that year:   

I'm fairly positive I went on Saturday because I would have wanted to see Portishead.  And this would have been when I was living in California, so it would make sense to go then.  But when you compare headliners between then and now, it was so much better 15+ years ago.  And I certainly recognize more of the artists 15+ years ago, but not as many more as I thought I would do.  Perhaps I've never been up with current music trends.

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.