The Afterword

Musings on the byways of popular culture

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ATM: iTunes error codes

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Hi – getting grief trying to refresh podcasts using the house Mac Mini – codes 3150, 3256 & most commonly 3259. Used a few ‘fixes’ based on online advice, but couldn’t refresh any podcasts last night, so pretty peeved. Podcasts have taken a long time of late to download but haven’t failed completely previously. The super duper Yosemite has also failed more than once to download. No other obvious home WiFi / IT issues. Best way forward type advice please – much thanks.

What would your superpower be? – the choice is flight or invisibility only

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Heard an old episode of This American Life recently, & this came up as a topic a contributor suggested at social gatherings (dinner parties & the like) to break the ice. He claimed the strict either/ or choice seemed to clearly focus the minds of guests, who fell into 2 distinct mindset groups. The programme then went on to discuss the ‘meanings’ of the choices, right down to whether certain people only said A or B because they wished to be seen in a certain light ( but they were fibbing) For clarity, it is assumed that invisible people also have invisible clothes/ shoes but objects they carry would be visible, & that flying people can fly as high as they like without needing ‘flightsuits/ oxygen’. So AWers, which one are you?

ATM: Books/ reading for the poor attention span

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Eldest daughter ( going on 15) has confessed of late to not being able to concentrate on any worthwhile books sufficiently to make any headway & thus is experiencing a hiatus. She’s gone from being a prodigious ( & precocious) reader a couple of years back, to reading next to nothing aside from necessary school material. I’m pretty relaxed about it, assuming it is an aspect of adolescence, but wonder if AWers have any recommendations – snappy stuff, very funny stuff or perhaps top notch short stories ( not a form I really know) that may work as a stop gap or kick start until normal reading pleasure resumes? Cheers.

Podcast recommendation

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The Poster Boys podcast with Brendan Schaeffer & Sam Smith. A pair of graphic artists who do indie film posters & work for Criterion amongst others yack on about their love of graphic design & specifically about its manifestation in classic film poster work. If you can happily listen to 2 blokes wax lyrical for 2 hours on Saul Bass (& then do a part 2!) then this is the ‘cast for you. They have the knowledge & the passion & I really hope it has legs. What earbuds were made for.

ATM – how do I do indented replies to posts?

by 26 Comments

Hi – stupid question time: can’t seem to figure how to put a reply under a specific post. When I’m not logged in, it clearly says ‘ log in to reply’ , when when I logged in, the ‘reply’ bit ha devilishly disappeared, so my post goes at the bottom. Please tell e what I’m failing to grasp ( wood for trees etc.) . I’m posting on an iPad if that’s relevant. Cheers.

The Whiplash ‘ question’.

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Junglejim on How far is too far?

Enjoyed the movie Whiplash, excellent screenplay, direction and performances, and am curious on the thoughts of the Massive on what I took to be its central question: how far or can or should one go in the pursuit of excellence and whether the price paid is worth it, particularly in the field of music.

Can a mentor justify pushing a pupil to absolute breaking point in attempting to achieve ‘perfection’? Few would question this motivational approach in sports training ( particularly in endurance events), but in music? especially the branch of music featured in the film, with its unique history? And does technical prowess offer any hope of worthwhile output?

I was also taken with the fact that it centres on a jazz drummer, aspiring to the technical heights of Buddy Rich. Rich has an interesting place on the pantheon on drumming, and jazz specifically. I know nobody who questions his preeminent ability and there’s no shortage of available footage that leaves one thoroughly impressed, but I also don’t know any one who likes jazz that actually listens to his music or would put any of his albums in their personal top 10s » Continue Reading.