Unutterably Silly Corrupt-A-Topic (anymore off-topic and it would be on-topic)

[badgoodDeb]

That's too bad -- after one gets tired of the "lead" songs, you discover some of your new best favorites on the rest of the album! But only if you play the whole thing straight through because it's on vinyl and there's no "skip" button, or programmed play.

[crich70]

There used to be turn tables that you could program to skip to a given song on a record. At least Lt. Columbo saw one once. lol.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

That's too bad -- after one gets tired of the "lead" songs, you discover some of your new best favorites on the rest of the album! But only if you play the whole thing straight through because it's on vinyl and there's no "skip" button, or programmed play.

Often the best stuff on the album is the stuff that never gets airplay.

"[B]eauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair. Many sounds that we are used to do not bother us, and for that reason, we are inclined to call them beautiful. Frequently—possibly almost invariably—analytical and impersonal tests will show, we believe, that when a new or unfamiliar work is accepted as beautiful on its first hearing, its fundamental quality is one that tends to put the mind to sleep."
— Charles Ives (1874–1954), American composer. Essays Before a Sonata (1920), Epilogue, part 8.

[crich70]

The "Mona" in Mona Lisa isn't part of the ladies name, but a form of address. Mona is an old Italian word that translates to "lady" in English. So Mona Lisa is actually Lady Lisa.

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

That's too bad -- after one gets tired of the "lead" songs, you discover some of your new best favorites on the rest of the album! But only if you play the whole thing straight through because it's on vinyl and there's no "skip" button, or programmed play.

I tend to gravitate towards the album tracks on many albums, and some have become my favorites. Some examples:

- "Love Me For What I Am" by the Carpenters. Not a hit song, just the B-Side of the "Solitaire" single but one of my favorite songs.

- "I Wish I Could Cry" by Gilbert O'Sullivan. Found it on an album that appears to be a collection of demo tracks that Gilbert O'Sullivan did before he became famous. One of my favorite songs, and one that is quite different from his later, more polished, version.

- "Bermuda Triangle" by Barry Manilow. A great funny song that isn't a hit but one I think I like better than any of the other songs on the album.

Originally Posted by crich70

There used to be turn tables that you could program to skip to a given song on a record. At least Lt. Columbo saw one once. lol.

I've heard of those turntables too, but I don't know how well they worked. I do know that they have come out with laser turntables that are supposed to play records via a laser and can go to and skip tracks just like a CD player (but according to a podcast I'd heard they only work with black vinyl records). Unfortunately, I did a Wikipedia check and it costs around $10,000.

I know from experience that some automatic turntables had problems playing non-black vinyl LPs. I had a fully automatic turntable that made playing records almost as easy as playing a CD (put the record on and hit one button to play the side one time). But it could only player black vinyl record automatically. With other records I had manually set the needle since the size sensors (which relied on the record blocking lights to tell the size of the record) could not tell what size the record was.

Now for something completely different: Isn't it interesting how something born out of necessity can become iconic? In Doctor Who the original reason the TARDIS was stuck in the form of a London Police Call Box is because there wasn't the budget to allow it to change shape (which was the original plan).

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

<snippage on the turntables>

Now for something completely different: Isn't it interesting how something born out of necessity can become iconic? In Doctor Who the original reason the TARDIS was stuck in the form of a London Police Call Box is because there wasn't the budget to allow it to change shape (which was the original plan).

Agreed. And would Dr. Who BE Dr. Who, had the Tardis actually changed shape? Ye Gods, it's hard to imagine it. Of course, I became addicted to the series a long time ago, if memory serves, in the early 80's, when I was living near a college town, and the local PBS station played the (now old) Whos, up through...Peter Davison, it was, IIRC, back then; in fact, I still think of Sarah Jane as possibly my fave companion of all time (RIP).

And...what happened to the Doctor's granddaughter???????

Hitch

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Agreed. And would Dr. Who BE Dr. Who, had the Tardis actually changed shape? Ye Gods, it's hard to imagine it. Of course, I became addicted to the series a long time ago, if memory serves, in the early 80's, when I was living near a college town, and the local PBS station played the (now old) Whos, up through...Peter Davison, it was, IIRC, back then; in fact, I still think of Sarah Jane as possibly my fave companion of all time (RIP).

And...what happened to the Doctor's granddaughter???????

Hitch

The Fourth Doctor attempted to fix the Chameleon Circuit in his last story but was unsuccessful. The events of that story led to his regeneration.

The TARDIS has changed shape in one story. The Sixth Doctor (probably the most pro-active regeneration) did get the Chameleon Circuit working...and was very displeased with the results (once it took the form of a pink pipe organ in a junk yard and he had trouble finding its entrance). Eventually, he returned it to the london police call box form and then disabled the Chameleon Circuit. According to the Tardis Data Core Website, The Eleventh Doctor permanently disabled the Chameleon Circuit after locking it in the london police call box form.

I know that Susan Foreman, the Doctor's Granddaughter, appeared in "The Five Doctors" along with The First Doctor. If I remember correctly, from what I've heard she's been living an ordinary life somewhere.

Now for something completely unrelated: In the game "Bubble Bobble" there's a cheat code that will allow you to access a "Super Bubble Bobble" version of the game (which appears to be a much harder version of the game).

[Dylrob]

[orlok]

87

[Solitaire1]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

68

And now for something completely unrelated: In the english written language, why are so many sounds assigned to multiple letters? C and K both share the same hard sound, as C also shares a sound with S. Likewise, the letter combinations of ER, IR, and UR all share the same sound. Then the is the C and K ending of words, where some words (stick, kick, and brick) end in CK, while others (plastic, prosaic, and basic) end with just the C.

Added to this are the silent letters, like K (knight, knife, and knowledge) and E (face, name, and plane), and the strange combinations like GH as an "f" sound (enough, tough, and cough) and TION as a "shun" sound (situation, elucidation, and inebriation).

All this makes for a very confusion situation when it comes to spelling. Often, it seems like you just have to memorize the spelling since the spelling sometimes is far different from he way the word sounds (colonel).

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Solitaire1

68

And now for something completely unrelated: In the english written language, why are so many sounds assigned to multiple letters? C and K both share the same hard sound, as C also shares a sound with S. Likewise, the letter combinations of ER, IR, and UR all share the same sound. Then the is the C and K ending of words, where some words (stick, kick, and brick) end in CK, while others (plastic, prosaic, and basic) end with just the C.

Added to this are the silent letters, like K (knight, knife, and knowledge) and E (face, name, and plane), and the strange combinations like GH as an "f" sound (enough, tough, and cough) and TION as a "shun" sound (situation, elucidation, and inebriation).

All this makes for a very confusion situation when it comes to spelling. Often, it seems like you just have to memorize the spelling since the spelling sometimes is far different from he way the word sounds (colonel).

I think it has to do with the great vowel shift which took us from old English to the modern tongue. There is also the fact of different words which mean the same thing. Kirkyard = churchyard and so forth. English also descends from the germanic language branch while languages like Italian, Spanish and French descend from Latin. For a time English went underground as French took over as the language of the English world but then things swung back towards English. Even then things weren't standardized so you could have different words, pronounciations in different areas. Modern English inherits that heritage.

[WT Sharpe]

Uh, I believe I had that look first?

[badgoodDeb]

So who's the new chick on the left? I don't recognize her. (Don't follow current memes much.)

[WT Sharpe]

That's Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Look for her in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, scheduled for release March 25, 2016.

[Dylrob]

Something tells me that this movie is not going to be respectful to the character or super heroines in general.