Retro Gamer edition 100
Yes, it’s true: I paid extra money to get a magazine about old video games sooner. I truly am a sucker for nostalgia.
But hey, it’s the 100th issue, with a reprint of edition one as a bonus!!!
PS. 8pm Saturday: Spotted today at my brother-in-law’s birthday barbecue, this tattoo of Rik’s:
Video: What you get to see trackside at the Grand Prix
If you’ve never been to the Grand Prix (which is on today), here (from 2009 when I went for The Who concert) is what you get to see trackside.
Can’t say it appeals much to me.
Note what I assume are sonic booms.
Tags: Grand Prix, The Who
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Troll Squad (formerly Quoll Squad)
Happy Leap Year!
It’s a few weeks ago now, but this made me laugh: Troll Squad (formerly Quoll Squad), from the First Dog On The Moon exhibit at Platform, in the Degraves Street subway.
Freddies!
I feel a bit guilty about this: I re-used a costume party costume.
See, I was invited to an 80s Movie/Music/Pop-Culture party, and then a Dead Celebrities a couple of weeks later. Given time constraints and the likelihood of few party guests overlapping, I reasoned that I could knock off both with one costume. Someone who had been big in the 80s, but had since passed on.
I settled for Freddie Mercury.
After the 80s party, I felt a little guilty about it, particularly as I had since thought up another, almost-no-effort great 80s movie costume (which I won’t reveal now, lest that option become useful later).
Oh well, in any event, the 80s party was great, with birthday boy Andrew managing to get hold of a Back To The Future Delorean for the night. Wow.
And the Dead Celebrities party was great too… and very funny, since upon walking in I found co-host Tony was also dressed as Freddie.
He was late-80s Freddie. I was 1984ish Live Aid Freddie.
And just so you can tell us apart from the real one:
Pic sources: 1 / 2 / And my sister took the fake Freddies pic.
Tags: Freddie Mercury, music, parties, Queen
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The Doctor catches V/Line
Spotted on Saturday after the Doctor Who/Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Spectacular:
Reports from the UK suggest Doctor Who has prompted more people to wear bow ties. I don’t know if that’s rubbed off in Australia, but there were certainly more bow ties and fezzes than I’ve ever seen around Melbourne yesterday, both at the venue (the Plenary at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre) and on the way to and from there.
I was impressed that they sold out such a huge venue — twice. (As far as I can see, in the configuration we saw, the Plenary seats over five thousand people.)
And the fact that it was a balanced demographic (male and female, family groups and individuals — not just nerds) attending shows the programme reaches a much wider audience now than it did when I was growing up.
Indeed, at a barbecue on Saturday night, the laughter that I might have once faced when describing the event I’d been to was instead replaced by envy from some who’d tried and failed to get tickets.
Can I just say the event was excellent, by the way. Some great music, bringing memories from the past few years of the show flooding back, as well as some nods to the “classic” episodes of my youth. Host Mark Sheppard was good, and to my surprise, composer of all of the music (bar the theme tune) Murray Gold was also in attendance. Tony has a good write-up of the concert.
- Doctor Who News: Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular this weekend — includes a publicity shot from the MCG.
- Herald Sun: The Daleks arrive for symphonic showdown
- The Australian: Who fan exterminates boyhood fear and composes himself for the Doc — interview with Murray Gold
- BBC: History in the Making: Music in Melbourne (before the event)
- BBC: Music, Monsters and Magic: The Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular (reviews)
Happy Australia Day (and make sure you have a ticket)
The words on the left are from I Am Australian, by Bruce Woodley:
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We share a dream, and sing with one voice:
I am, you are, we are Australian
Wikipedia says the song was written in 1987. I’m pretty sure either that year or the year after, we sung it at Speech Night at Melbourne High School. (Woodley, like his fellow seekers Athol Guy and Keith Potger, went to Melbourne High.)
Proof that you can get a big-screen TV home by public transport
Proof that you (with the help of a friend, at least) don’t need a car to take a big-screen TV home… at least not since the advent of flatscreens.
Panasonic, 50 inch. Appears to have been bought at JB Hifi (which is nearby). Note the lady with her Metcard ready. They caught a 908 bus.
(No, this is not what they were talking about when it was flagged there’d soon be video ads on buses.)
DVD vs Blu-Ray picture quality
I never quite believed I’d see much of the difference between DVD and Blu-Ray on an 80cm (32 inch) TV. But with brand-name Blu-Ray players now below $100, and releases such as the complete set of Star Wars movies out on Blu-Ray, this past Christmas seemed like the right time to jump in and try it.
One of the presents I got was the Blu-Ray of Tron: Legacy, which also included the original Tron movie. Since I already had the DVD of the former, I’m able to compare the DVD against the Blu-Ray versions.
The scene from Flynn’s arcade had a lot more detail on the Blu-Ray, but you can’t really see it in a photo, so I won’t post it here. Jeremy and I looked carefully at this scene and were able to identify the names on some of the machines, for instance, which is impossible using the DVD.
More stark is the difference in this shot from the lightcycles scene, first on DVD:
(See it bigger)
…and on Blu-Ray:
(See it bigger)
There’s a lot more contrast in this scene on the Blu-Ray version. I think it’s not just a format question, it’s also that they’ve taken a lot more care in remastering the video. But the resolution being better also undoubtedly helps, and this is particularly noticeable (on the TV, perhaps not in the photos) with the grid lines.
Things to keep in mind:
- The DVD was from before the sequel movie was made, and it’s entirely possible that not a great deal of care was taken in the mastering. In comparison it appears they took a lot of care on the Blu-Ray version. It’s entirely possible that the current edition DVD is better.
- These comparisons were snapped off my TV with a camera, with the blinds drawn to reduce light. The snapshots were not taken under ideal conditions. (I don’t currently have any Blu-Ray drives in a computer, so I’m unable to grab a Blu-Ray image directly.) As noted above, it’s difficult to convey the difference seen on the TV in a photo.
- I’ve used the freeze frame, which may impact the picture.
There’s no denying the higher quality of Blu-Ray, even on an 80cm screen.
Question is, which movies or TV would I consider worthy of upgrade, and at what cost? I can’t see myself shelling how lots of money for discs of movies I already own. But for future purchases, I’d certainly lean towards the newer format if the price is not prohibitive.
(I did find The Life Of Brian on Blu-Ray, with lots of extras, for $8 yesterday at K-Mart.)
- MichaelDVD review of Tron DVD
- MichaelDVD review of Tron on Blu-Ray
- MichaelDVD review of Tron:Legacy on Blu-Ray
Tags: Blu-ray, DVDs, films, television
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