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Why ??!!...The whinging,moaning,complaining,ranting,letting off steam thread !!

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  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    edited October 2022 Posts: 18,270
    Videotape was cheaper so a lot of TV shows of the time were made on videotape. Sadly this means the quality of the recordings now are not what they could be. Tales of the Unexpected, for example, was shot entirely on videotape.
  • cooperman2cooperman2 Uk
    Posts: 380
    Lew Grade had the right idea. All of his ITC shows of the sixties were all shot on 35mm film and the result is that those shows, like The Saint, The Prisoner and Gerry Anderson's classic Supermarionation series still look great, especially when they're remastered for Blu-ray.
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 16,162
    Certain shots in COUNT DRACULA do look pretty bad on videotape. It's an odd mix, especially the use of visual video effects.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited October 2022 Posts: 24,179
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Certain shots in COUNT DRACULA do look pretty bad on videotape. It's an odd mix, especially the use of visual video effects.

    Outdoor shots were always of poorer quality in those days. ALLO ALLO is where I learned that for the first time when I was a young lad.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    Now one must consider that those shows were made to be viewed on an analogue CRT TV set with no more than 625 lines of resolution (525 in the US). VHS was even worse. Before HDTV and at least DVD resolution no one could probably tell the actual difference.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.

    She's by far the best Mina and closest to the book imo. In fact the production has the best Harker too, maybe the closest atmosphere and narrative to the book as well. The casting is overall excellent, except sadly and tragically for Dracula himself and Van Helsing.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    The BBC film is one of my favourite Dracula adaptations for sure.
  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.

    She's by far the best Mina and closest to the book imo. In fact the production has the best Harker too, maybe the closest atmosphere and narrative to the book as well. The casting is overall excellent, except sadly and tragically for Dracula himself and Van Helsing.

    Just out of interest what was wrong with Louis Jourdan's performance as Dracula would you say, @Ludovico? He's one of my favourite actors but maybe you feel he was miscast here?
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.

    She's by far the best Mina and closest to the book imo. In fact the production has the best Harker too, maybe the closest atmosphere and narrative to the book as well. The casting is overall excellent, except sadly and tragically for Dracula himself and Van Helsing.

    Just out of interest what was wrong with Louis Jourdan's performance as Dracula would you say, @Ludovico? He's one of my favourite actors but maybe you feel he was miscast here?

    He's a great actor, just not for Dracula. Too elegant, too suave. The Dracula of the novel is often feral, he's very much a warlord turned vampire and I don't see this in Jourdan. I know Lee was probably tired to play the Count at this time, but imagine him in the role, in the BBC production, with the look he had in the Jesus Franco version (albeit wearing Jourdan's outfit). Finlay was equally miscast as Van Helsing, although I can't think of an actor who could have played him. An aged Albert Finney or Brian Blessed perhaps? Paul Scofield?
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    edited October 2022 Posts: 3,152
    What strikes me on repeated viewings is that Jourdan played Dracula almost as if he viewed Van Helsing, Harker and Seward as half-aware children who amused him with their ineffectual scrabblings. 'Yes, yes, it always sounds more convincing in Latin', etc. It was a much different take than Lee's more elemental force, but I did think it suited this particular production. Finlay was a bit stagey, but not fatally so, I don't think. As for Lee, yes, I can only imagine what he thought when he saw a version of Dracula with so much of the book in it - exactly what he'd been asking for (for several years) and someone else got to do it instead of him!
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 16,162
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.

    She's by far the best Mina and closest to the book imo. In fact the production has the best Harker too, maybe the closest atmosphere and narrative to the book as well. The casting is overall excellent, except sadly and tragically for Dracula himself and Van Helsing.

    Just out of interest what was wrong with Louis Jourdan's performance as Dracula would you say, @Ludovico? He's one of my favourite actors but maybe you feel he was miscast here?

    He's a great actor, just not for Dracula. Too elegant, too suave. The Dracula of the novel is often feral, he's very much a warlord turned vampire and I don't see this in Jourdan. I know Lee was probably tired to play the Count at this time, but imagine him in the role, in the BBC production, with the look he had in the Jesus Franco version (albeit wearing Jourdan's outfit). Finlay was equally miscast as Van Helsing, although I can't think of an actor who could have played him. An aged Albert Finney or Brian Blessed perhaps? Paul Scofield?

    I think Lee would've done this film regardless. It'd probably be my favorite adaptation with Lee made up as Stoker decribed. I don't mind Finlay as Van Helsing, but I do prefer most others.


    One more rant: I ordered another copy of this COUNT DRACULA online... at a reasonable price. Then the seller refunded me promptly as the DVD had been lost.

    UUGHH!
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    edited October 2022 Posts: 12,466
    Ultimate first world problem warning in effect:

    Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands. I love their first 8 albums, particularly Some Great Reward through Songs of Faith and Devotion. Tons of great tracks I listen to all the time. It was pretty exciting to see them recently announce a new album + tour happening next year.

    I’m not a big concert guy. Only been to a handful in my life even though I love a lot of music. I was hopeful for a possible opportunity to see DM, even though it would have entailed a long drive and probably lots of pains to make it happen. But when I saw the ticket prices, it was just an instant not-happening thing. I could barely believe how much even bad seats are going for. A lot of fans like me are working class, not rich people, and though among the most passionate, these things are just not justifiable for us to be able to support financially.

    The economy sucks right now. Not being able to get to see a favorite band in concert is the least of the issues, though it does stand out to me how sad it is that it’s getting harder and harder for the average American to even consume entertainment now; people like me can’t be part of the action anymore when it gets this wild. Making ends meet is the main priority, and most of all I’m just hoping I’ll always be able to afford food and basic bills. The future is scarily bleak with money…
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    FoxRox wrote: »
    Ultimate first world problem warning in effect:

    Depeche Mode is one of my favorite bands. I love their first 8 albums, particularly Some Great Reward through Songs of Faith and Devotion. Tons of great tracks I listen to all the time. It was pretty exciting to see them recently announce a new album + tour happening next year.

    I’m not a big concert guy. Only been to a handful in my life even though I love a lot of music. I was hopeful for a possible opportunity to see DM, even though it would have entailed a long drive and probably lots of pains to make it happen. But when I saw the ticket prices, it was just an instant not-happening thing. I could barely believe how much even bad seats are going for. A lot of fans like me are working class, not rich people, and though among the most passionate, these things are just not justifiable for us to be able to support financially.

    The economy sucks right now. Not being able to get to see a favorite band in concert is the least of the issues, though it does stand out to me how sad it is that it’s getting harder and harder for the average American to even consume entertainment now; people like me can’t be part of the action anymore when it gets this wild. Making ends meet is the main priority, and most of all I’m just hoping I’ll always be able to afford food and basic bills. The future is scarily bleak with money…

    I know that the biggest concert arrangers here have been bought up by huge foreign capital funds over the last couple of years, and so this is what happens. I suspect it s the same most other places.
  • LudovicoLudovico
    Posts: 15,117
    ToTheRight wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Dragonpol wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.
    Venutius wrote: »
    Yes, it was the typical mid- to late '70s BBC mix of exterior film and interior video. The difference between the two is starkly obvious, but don't let that put you off. Judi Bowker is the perfect Mina and several of the key set pieces from the book are rendered better here than in any other adaptation. IMO, obvs. Well worth having, despite the occasional am-dram clanger. All these years on and I'd still recommend it over most versions. Maybe all, tbh.

    She's by far the best Mina and closest to the book imo. In fact the production has the best Harker too, maybe the closest atmosphere and narrative to the book as well. The casting is overall excellent, except sadly and tragically for Dracula himself and Van Helsing.

    Just out of interest what was wrong with Louis Jourdan's performance as Dracula would you say, @Ludovico? He's one of my favourite actors but maybe you feel he was miscast here?

    He's a great actor, just not for Dracula. Too elegant, too suave. The Dracula of the novel is often feral, he's very much a warlord turned vampire and I don't see this in Jourdan. I know Lee was probably tired to play the Count at this time, but imagine him in the role, in the BBC production, with the look he had in the Jesus Franco version (albeit wearing Jourdan's outfit). Finlay was equally miscast as Van Helsing, although I can't think of an actor who could have played him. An aged Albert Finney or Brian Blessed perhaps? Paul Scofield?

    I think Lee would've done this film regardless. It'd probably be my favorite adaptation with Lee made up as Stoker decribed. I don't mind Finlay as Van Helsing, but I do prefer most others.


    One more rant: I ordered another copy of this COUNT DRACULA online... at a reasonable price. Then the seller refunded me promptly as the DVD had been lost.

    UUGHH!

    That sucks, no pun intended.
    Venutius wrote: »
    What strikes me on repeated viewings is that Jourdan played Dracula almost as if he viewed Van Helsing, Harker and Seward as half-aware children who amused him with their ineffectual scrabblings. 'Yes, yes, it always sounds more convincing in Latin', etc. It was a much different take than Lee's more elemental force, but I did think it suited this particular production. Finlay was a bit stagey, but not fatally so, I don't think. As for Lee, yes, I can only imagine what he thought when he saw a version of Dracula with so much of the book in it - exactly what he'd been asking for (for several years) and someone else got to do it instead of him!

    Maybe, but for such production, probably the closest we had from the novel (and even the shoddy fx and the low budget feel of some settings actually strengthen it), I would have rather had an actor much closer to the Dracula of the novel, in physique and demeanour. Nowadays I'd cast Jason Isaacs or Ralph Fiennes, I think they'd both be great.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited October 2022 Posts: 3,789
    Thailand: Many children among dead in nursery attack

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63155169.amp


    Indonesia football disaster: Six face criminal charges over stadium crush

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63168464.amp
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    Thailand: Many children among dead in nursery attack

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63155169.amp
    Well, it's a country with one gun per seven people...

    ... which is nothing compared to a certain country with more than one weapon per person. So the gold medal to mass shootings cannot go to Thailand but remains in the hands of another developing country.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited October 2022 Posts: 3,789
    I'll admit, College life is a bit exhausting.

    A pile full of activities!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Why do so many people refuse to use their indicators when exiting a roundabout? It happens very often that I'm waiting for a chance to get on the roundabout while those already using it give me the impression that they're going to stay on it, then take a hard exit without blinking, leaving me standing there as the traffic idiot who just won't move on. Bloody wankers! Use your indicators! That's what they're for.
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Why do so many people refuse to use their indicators when exiting a roundabout? It happens very often that I'm waiting for a chance to get on the roundabout while those already using it give me the impression that they're going to stay on it, then take a hard exit without blinking, leaving me standing there as the traffic idiot who just won't move on. Bloody wankers! Use your indicators! That's what they're for.

    I see people skipping that all the time if there are no other cars around, as if pedestrians and cyclist have no interest in wether the cars around them are making a turn.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 24,179
    Thunderfinger wrote: »
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Why do so many people refuse to use their indicators when exiting a roundabout? It happens very often that I'm waiting for a chance to get on the roundabout while those already using it give me the impression that they're going to stay on it, then take a hard exit without blinking, leaving me standing there as the traffic idiot who just won't move on. Bloody wankers! Use your indicators! That's what they're for.

    I see people skipping that all the time if there are no other cars around, as if pedestrians and cyclist have no interest in wether the cars around them are making a turn.

    True too. Pedestrians -- and I am one for most of my trajectory -- are often ignored as well.
  • TorgeirtrapTorgeirtrap
    edited October 2022 Posts: 17,756
    A wile ago I ordered a nice looking lounge table, made out of walnut veneer, applied to a plywood base. I had been looking for a table with the right size and look for months, before I found this one. It was a quite expensive designer table (expensive for my wallet at least), but I thought I would treat myself for once. Then I had to wait another three weeks before getting it delivered today.

    Once unpacked it looked alright, and assembling the base of the table was no trouble. When mounting the base to the tabletop however, everything went wrong. The base was mounted to a square metal plate which was to be placed into a corresponding square spot cut into the board of the table. It was a little bit of an awkward fit, but like when assembling the base, I expected that fastening the screws with the hex key would make the base go into place. I didn't take many turns with the hex key – the table base only halfway fastened at this point – until I hard a minor cracking sort of sound which is easy to mistake for the base setting into place. Having paid for an expensive piece of furniture, I took no chances and unscrewed the base. To my shock and horror the inner board which the veneer is applied to had cracked, making a bulge which now makes it impossible to mount the base! In other words, the table is useless, and didn't even make it through careful assembly…

    I now have to email the webshop I ordered the table from, and see if I can return the damn table and get a refund. If not, I've paid for a pricy piece of furniture (from a well-known designer brand mind) which will only end up being thrown away at the local recycling station.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    Why do so many people refuse to use their indicators when exiting a roundabout? It happens very often that I'm waiting for a chance to get on the roundabout while those already using it give me the impression that they're going to stay on it, then take a hard exit without blinking, leaving me standing there as the traffic idiot who just won't move on. Bloody wankers! Use your indicators! That's what they're for.

    I fully agree. Same here. Not that it's really critical (I mean: no long queues) out in the country where I live, but it's a definite nuisance.
  • ImpertinentGoonImpertinentGoon Everybody needs a hobby.
    Posts: 1,351
    Torgeirtrap wrote: »
    A wile ago I ordered a nice looking lounge table, made out of walnut veneer, applied to a plywood base. I had been looking for a table with the right size and look for months, before I found this one. It was a quite expensive designer table (expensive for my wallet at least), but I thought I would treat myself for once. Then I had to wait another three weeks before getting it delivered today.

    Once unpacked it looked alright, and assembling the base of the table was no trouble. When mounting the base to the tabletop however, everything went wrong. The base was mounted to a square metal plate which was to be placed into a corresponding square spot cut into the board of the table. It was a little bit of an awkward fit, but like when assembling the base, I expected that fastening the screws with the hex key would make the base go into place. I didn't take many turns with the hex key – the table base only halfway fastened at this point – until I hard a minor cracking sort of sound which is easy to mistake for the base setting into place. Having paid for an expensive piece of furniture, I took no chances and unscrewed the base. To my shock and horror the inner board which the veneer is applied to had cracked, making a bulge which now makes it impossible to mount the base! In other words, the table is useless, and didn't even make it through careful assembly…

    I now have to email the webshop I ordered the table from, and see if I can return the damn table and get a refund. If not, I've paid for a pricy piece of furniture (from a well-known designer brand mind) which will only end up being thrown away at the local recycling station.

    Had something similar happen. We even went with solid wood (Sheesham, not mahogany ^^) to have a higher chance of not having problems with the material and when it arrived the tabletop was warped, because the logistics company had stored and transported it on it's side and not flat. After corresponding with the manufacturer, we decided to keep the table and accept a big rebate instead of a replacement, because they would obviously throw the whole table away and we didn't want that. And now we have a slightly sloped dining table on which you have to kind of have to know where to place plates to not have them wobble when cutting something... Only slightly annoying, but still annoying.
  • Risico007Risico007
    edited October 2022 Posts: 9,846
    You know your old when you confuse game consoles


    God how upset I am

    Last year I got an x box one x

    Which I assumed was an x box series x


    I plopped down 100 bucks on Gotham knights deluxe edition

    Put it in the console only for me to see nope the game doesn’t work


    Sigh I in all honesty I don’t blame Amanda for getting me the wrong console I blame myself for not doing the right research


    Oh well at least have the game for whenever I buy the console

    And at least the other three games that will be x box series x exclusives

    Project 007
    Splinter cell
    Indianna jones and the search for a good follow up to emperors tomb


    Are all slow in development
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,547
    It is really confusing with the Xbox naming conventions these days.
    24bbnlcaiso51.jpg

  • DragonpolDragonpol https://thebondologistblog.blogspot.com
    Posts: 18,270
    I can't make head nor tail of technology:

  • MajorDSmytheMajorDSmythe "I tolerate this century, but I don't enjoy it."Moderator
    Posts: 13,978
    I have been gaming since the early 90's, and even I am confused by the naming of XBox consoles. Why can't they just be straightforward like Sony? 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5. Easy.

    @NickTwentyTwo :))
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    I'm tempted to ask the ironical question what an X Box is in the first place. But I do basically know in reality, it's just that I never had any computer game console, nor do I expect to develop the urge to own one. My computer game experience more or less ends with Tetris and FreeCell. Fine with me. Wordle fascinates me more.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    edited October 2022 Posts: 7,547
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    I'm tempted to ask the ironical question what an X Box is in the first place. But I do basically know in reality, it's just that I never had any computer game console, nor do I expect to develop the urge to own one. My computer game experience more or less ends with Tetris and FreeCell. Fine with me. Wordle fascinates me more.

    Xbox is Microsoft's Playstation. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo make the primary video game consoles; Xbox is just Microsoft's series of consoles.

    I've watched some professional Tetris competitions and it is intense as hell.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    NickTwentyTwo wrote: »
    I've watched some professional Tetris competitions and it is intense as hell.
    Yes, but I guess even regarding Tetris my last attempts were twenty years ago.

    And my experience with moving characters is stuck with Leisure Suit Larry, I'm afraid.
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