Higher (more hi)

I've been reading back old posts during the 'Bake Off' commercials and trying to think what has changed in my life.

For all my general scifi/fantasy etc. geekery seems well-represented, I don't seem to have talked a lot about Star Trek or Star Wars, the odd reference notwithstanding. I like both, though when it comes to films I'm definitely more a fan of the latter. I've already got The Rise of Star Wars tickets (yes, plural).

I love to watch old episodes of The Next Generation on Netflix, though. It'll be interesting to see what happens in the Star Wars universe when they start showing their live action TV series. The first one, The Mandalorian, is less than two weeks away and there's an Obi-Wan Kenobi series to follow soon.

Fortunately I'll be able to watch those as they're released, because The Netherlands already has Disney+, ahead of the USA and Canada on November 12th. If I remembered how to embed videos the way I like instead of letting Blogger figure it out, I would've included the The Mandalorian trailer.

I still miss K an awful lot. He'll be dead six years in January. I still haven't found an urn I'm happy with as a permanent resting place for my litte bit of his ashes, but I may be closing in on a decision. He and I watched the Star Trek reboot movie so many times together, volume way too high for those thin Amsterdam walls.

Work was good, then less so, and now I'm working somewhere else it's a lot better again. It's a bit busy now because my closest colleague is on holiday, but the jokes on him because once he gets back we have a few days together and then I'll be gone for a couple of weeks. So all the backlog that's building up now, will be his problem.

I'm thinking about bariatric surgery.

I've discovered podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts. History, films, filmmusic, science, comedy, true crime, dozens of them. I have to revise the lists on this page anyway, maybe I'll add a podcast list.

Hi

Wow, hasn't this been a long time? I'll have to figure out how everything works again.

Maybe a short introduction is in order, or a reminder-slash-update for those who know me.

I am MJ, also known as Subtle Knife - yes, I'm excited about the new His Dark Materials TV series which starts on the BBC this Sunday, but also a little apprehensive, because what if it's too much like the The Golden Compass film, which I didn't like very much?

What else?

• I still love cricket
• I still like the music I mentioned in my profile (that I thought was old five years ago); there have been a few new additions (or even old ones)
• I'm still fat (lost 25 kg at one stage, it's all back)
• I'm still a Unitarian Universalist

There's more, but I must dash, The Great British Bake Off is about to start.

Live Event links

By popular request, here's a quick run-down of links to BBC Live Events on the TuneIn website:

BBC Live Events
Live Event 1
Live Event 2
Live Event 3
Live Event 4
Live Event 5
Live Event 6
Live Event 7
Live Event 8
Live Event 9
Live Event 10
Live Event 11
Live Event 12
Live Event 13
Live Event 14
Live Event 15
Live Event 16

You can listen to these streams in your browser via the above links. The easiest way to listen to them on phone or tablet is to download the TuneIn app and search for "BBC Live Event".

Bookmark all sixteen channels, then just pick the one you want from the list provided by @TuneInLiveEvent.

I'm not sad, I'm just grieving

A few days ago it hit me. Not that I didn't know it was coming, or kept particularly quiet about it. In fact, "My friend Kevin, who died two years ago next January," felt at times like a stock phrase, some unfunny catchphrase to a morbid joke. But I kept using it, because it was mine, I owned that grief and in some perverse way I was proud of the way I was coping.

But at some point this weekend it turned much more immediate. Suddenly January 17th was looming. Suddenly the loss felt more acute, the wound more raw. A veil was drawn and the reality that went before - which seemed so real at the time - now appears dull and faded compared to the biting real reality.

Why did you have to break all my heart
Couldn't you have saved a little bit of it?

The video at the top invokes strong memories of evenings spent walking around Amsterdam together with Kevin, after a few drinks, singing Rufus Wainwright songs - badly and loudly. One time as we turned onto the Zeedijk arm in arm, singing this particular song, we practically ran in to a couple of old-fashioned bewhiskered Amsterdam cops who told us to tone it down. I don't think we stopped laughing all the way home.

At the time I hadn't experienced any real loss or heartbreak. Only now do I know what the song is about.

I love to sit and watch you drink
With the reins to the world, gripping a smoke
Vaguely missing link

But having said all that, I'm pretty content most of the time. I just need a little more time to myself than usual and I'll get through this okay. So don't worry about me, I'm not sad, I'm just grieving.

Don't ever change, don't ever worry
Because I'm coming back home tomorrow
To 14th Street where I won't hurry
And where I'll learn how to save, not just borrow
And there'll be rainbows and we will finally know...

Cricket World Cup schedule - with times

Just over three months before the start of the tournament, the starting times for the ICC Cricket World Cup have suddenly appeared. (I would say they've been announced but I just happened to stumble upon them.)

To help myself miss as little cricket as possible, I've made an overview of the dates and times of not just of this tournament, but all matches I might possibly want to watch. So now I've been able to fill in the World Cup ones - and then do the conversion to time zones in the civilised world.

It's a bit rough and ready, but I think it's useful. Don't judge me on spelling, most of it is copy/paste!

The three times are local, GMT and CET (for the final the last two are technically BST and CEST). Blue dates start while it's still the day before in Europe.

Edit: Click the pictures to embiggen.

These are the finals stages, comprised of four quarters, two semis and the final. The latter will take place just as the clocks are springing forward in Europe, so I hope I got the time right. In any case, you can only blame me for being up early, not for missing an hour of play.