Good food, roll reversals and even more live music

Around 8 years ago when we got our 36” TV, we were ahead of the game. Combined with 7.1 Kef Coda surround sound speakers and the ridiculously expensive (but worth every penny) Denon digital theatre amp, it was impressive enough to warrant a launch evening. A friend of ours, Paul, still mentions the impact it had on him when he first saw this behemoth in the corner of the living room. While you certainly could not hang it on a wall the weight gave it the advantage that nobody was going to break in and run off down the road with it - not unless they had at least 3 very large and strong friends with them.

This is the TV that Mrs B broke down in tears about when I showed it to her in the shop. (Well actually not quite, as I only showed her the 32" version as a warm up. We only had a 21" TV at the time and that was going to be "one huge step for
mankind...") This set the plan to get a big TV back by 6 months. That was along time ago now and the thing still works perfectly well, other than not being HD compatible and twice the size I would like it to be (Mrs B keeps telling me size is not everything and assures me it's what you do with it. I'm not sure what she means....) I have been toying around with the idea of a replacement but nothing has made me ready to jump ship. In fact, in a rather bizarre twist, it is now Mrs B who wants a large and expensive flat screen TV, while it is me now dragging my feet. What has brought about this roll reversal? That would be 'The Deal .....'

The Deal
Mrs B - "You can have as big and as expensive a flat screen TV as you want as long as you buy me a Diamond ring for the equivalent amount of money. "

Me - "OK.................."

Thought process
Mrs B - 'Whoopee, I'm getting a big diamond ring........'

Me - 'OK, the prices of electrical consumer good are still coming down, new improved TV's are being released all the time, the behemoth is working well.....no need to rush into this........'

That all changed last Saturday night.....

We had been invited to dinner by a Thai friend of ours who had been threatening to cook us an authentic meal for quite sometime. Very nice, Mam had even toned down the spices for Mrs B, not that it helped much as it still took the roof of her mouth off.
Yellow curry, similar to Green curry and Red
curry only it's well, Yellow......Oh, and has
the ability to bring tears to Mrs B's Eyes.
Impressive, I had to use a whole 32" TV....

I had started to get a bit of gadget envy when I entered the house, I have never seen so many amps, pre-amps post-amps, I think there were five in all. There were also huge B&W speakers decorating the living room. To be honest 'menacing the living room' would be a better description. This was at odds, however, with the fairly small (albeit flat screen (note to editor you are obsessed with flat screen)) TV that they dwarfed. I assumed that the speakers were for music and thought little more about it while I concentrated on scoffing the fantastic banquet that Mam put before us.
- the dishes just kept coming.

After the meal, Ray - Mam's husband, asked if we would like to see a film. Never one to turn down such an offer we settled in front of the TV. Suddenly there was a huge rumbling noise and a projector screen slowly dropped down from the ceiling, covering the entire wall of the living room and hiding the TV, like a David Blaine magic trick. (Shut your eyes for two minutes and you would never have known where the TV had gone). The next thing the screen was filled with a gorgeous, large than life HD picture. We never did get to see a film as Ray proceeded to attempt to show us the best bits from various Blue ray discs. All very impressive but very frustrating as, despite have a top end Blue ray player, it still takes about 2 minutes to load each disc. Not a problem if you are watching a full film but a pain when seeing snippets. One of the snippets was the animated "Cars" - not a film that left a great impression on me when I first saw it but had a wow factor when the picture seems to totally surround you. Ray had warned me that when the cars raced passed it would feel like you were really there. Sure enough the power of the speakers gave the impression that the cars were actually passing inches from me. Poor Mrs B, who had taken up her normal snooze position, almost bounced out of her seat.

When we got home the Behemoth now looked like a small portable. I have seen the future, only it is unlikely to make it into Mrs. B's living room. The phrase "Over my dead body" springs to mind. My thoughts are now turning to getting a spade and digging... No,No,No don't be daft, I'm not talking about burying Mrs B, I'm thinking basement, with fully integrated cinema room. I suspect Mrs B's diamond is now getting to the size where it would be too heavy to put on her finger and for the record Mrs B has hidden all the spades......

Florence and the Machine
I had managed to talk Mrs B and our friends Joe and Kirsty to get to Shepherds Bush early, so that we could get a bite to eat and see the support band - The XX. Some support bands are incredible, even better than the main act -

Terrence Trent Derby making Simply Red look ordinary

Bare-naked Ladies making the Beautiful South look second rate

The XX did not turn out to be one of those groups. All their songs seem to start off promisingly but quickly stalled, like an old Ford Fiesta. Just at the point they should be pulling away from the lights they coast to a halt. The effect on my three companions was to almost put them to sleep. In fact I was having to support Mrs B to stop her slumping over. Not what was needed on Sunday night in West London.
Joe spotted that the group probably only
called themselves XX so they use the cool
but cheap lighting affect.

Fortunately, when Florence took to the stage that all changed and the venue came to life. She has a wonderfully distinct voice and immense stage presence that makes it difficult to keep your eyes off her. I do worry about her mental state though. When she fluffed the cue for the second song, she kept going on about it all evening, even at the end during the encore. I fear, like many stars, that she is quite a fragile individual and lives off a nervous energy, like a modern day Kate Bush.
I just hope that she manages to keep it together and does not burn out À la miss Bush. Despite Kate having a fantastic reputation for singing live, I believe she only managed to performed about 28 gigs....

Kiss with a fist - Thanks Florence but
I'd rather have none....Besides I've
heard about your boy building coffins
I have a feeling that Florence may have read my Bloomsbury Ballroom review for she was determined to get some mosh pit action. Not good news for the poor sod who was half way through the crowd, attempting to deliver four beers to his three friends, just at the point when Florence made the announcement that she wanted the entire audience to jump up and down. It was only going to end one way. The only other person who failed to join in was the large pratt behind me. As the entire place erupted I found myself being pushed forward. I turned to see this huge guy sulking, while his girlfriend tried to explain he didn't like being crowded. I felt fully justified telling him that if he had an issue with crowds a gig was not the best place for him to be. I should have told the girlfriend that she might be better off finding someone with a bit more life in them but figured she could work that out for herself. Besides he was clearly a w*nker and so she might be able to put that to good use at least.....

I love that my friend Kirsty thought the song was "Dark days are over" and would not believe me for ages that is is Dog days. And no I have no idea what dog days are?

Hospital Beds, I hope Florence has learnt to
do the corners properly otherwise matron will
have her Lungs for Garters....
Despite the temperature being 17C I was voted down 3 to 1 and so had to drive home with the roof up. Within 5 minutes I found myself on my own in the car as my three companions drifted off into the land of nod. I would have put the roof down but was worried their harmonious snoring might wake up the neighbours.....