Aquarionics

‘Mr Winvoe?’ he said, after whistling into it. ‘Ah. Good. Tell me, how much do we have in our vaults at the moment? Oh, approximately. To the nearest million, say.’ He held the tube away from his ear for a moment, and then spoke into it again. ‘Well, be a good chap and check anyway, will you?’

He hung up the tube and placed his hands flat on the desk in front of him.

[...]

‘Yes, Mr Winvoe? Really? Indeed? I myself have frequently found loose change under sofa cushions, it’s amazing how it mou … No, no, I wasn’t being … Yes, I did have some reason to … No, no blame attaches to you in any … No, I could hardly see how it … Yes, go and have a rest, what a good idea. Thank you.’

[Terry Pratchett, Hogfather]

So, with my new, black, shiny personal backup device I have been listening to Podcasts.

These are some I’m enjoying:

• The official TMBG podcast – Tracks that wouldn’t make an album, and the occasional long sketch I’m thankful I could skip. [iTunes Link]
• Ask a ninja (Video) A ninja asks all your questions [iTunes Link]
• G4 TV Game reviews and such. Making fun of larpers from the unasilable position of being addicted to WoW. [iTunes Link]
• iMadeitup Music by Adam Rabin, previously lauded here as the music group Mailbox. [iTunes Link] [RSS Link]
• del.icio.us Mashups [RSS Link]

• LUGradio The occasional good bit buried within screeds of high handed bigotry against other people’s choice of operating systems. [iTunes] [RSS]

Watch this

(“Grand Finale”)

Stage One.

Buy new Powerbook. Also buy USB external hard-drive to back it onto. Do so regularly.

Stage Two.

Home desktop starts making clicky-whirring noises of death. Live with this for a little while, but eventually get The Fear for my data.

Stage Three.

Open up the USB external hard drive and rescue from it the IDE drive it stores things on. Put that into desktop.

Stage four.

Install windows, Civ IV, City of Heroes, Ubuntu etc.

Play happily for a month or so.

Stage five.

Back powerbook up to work desktop.

Stage six. (This morning)

Turn on home desktop. Smell strange burning smell. Swear, turn off computer, check all connections, turn on computer.

DISK FAILURE.

Examine hard drive rescued from USB enclosure. Notice carbonisation of areas of main board.

Swear.

[Guildenstern is pretending to be Hamlet]
Rosencrantz: Let me get it straight. Your father was king. You were his only son. Your father dies. You are of age. Your uncle becomes king.
Guildenstern: Yes.
Rosencrantz: Unusual.
Guildenstern: Undid me.
Rosencrantz: Undeniably.
Guildenstern: He slipped in.
Rosencrantz: Which reminds me…
Guildenstern: Well, it would.
Rosencrantz: I don’t want to be personal.
Guildenstern: Common knowledge.
Rosencrantz: Your mother’s marriage.
Guildenstern: He slipped in.
Rosencrantz: His body was still warm!
Guildenstern: So was hers.
Rosencrantz: Extraordinarily…
Guildenstern: Indecent.
Rosencrantz: Hasty.
Guildenstern: Suspicious.
Rosencrantz: Makes you think.
Guildenstern: Don’t think I haven’t.
Rosencrantz: And with her husband’s brother!
Guildenstern: They were close.
Rosencrantz: She went to him…
Guildenstern: Too close.
Rosencrantz: For comfort.
Guildenstern: It looks bad.
Rosencrantz: Adds up.
Guildenstern: Incest to adultery.
Rosencrantz: Would you go so far?
Guildenstern: Never!
Rosencrantz: To sum up: your father, whom you love, dies. You are his heir. You come back to find that hardly was the corpse cold before his young brother pops onto his throne and into his sheets, thereby offending both legal and natural practice. Now… why exactly are you behaving in this extraordinary manner?
Guildenstern: I can’t imagine.

Why did nobody tell me this film existed before? It’s wonderful!