Lev Lafayette's journal

Earlier this year that I missed the company sponsored 'flu shot whilst attending a First Aid re-certification. Amusing in itself on Sunday irony, that most uncanny of guests, came knocking on the door and knocked me down with the 'flu - and those who have had the 'flu know the difference between it and a cold. For the next three days I was laid out flat with a pounding headache that was the equivalent of the worst possible hangover, but without the pleasure of prior inebriation. Still, after many doses of codeine, pseudoephedrine, and some thirty litres of water, I've come up fine except an annoyingly phlegmy cough. Still, a much better state that some friends I could mention, and certainly a lot better those who've been hit by the rising ebola outbreak or for that matter the frustratingly predictable health crisis in Timor Leste.

During the past week my hosting provider locked me out of one of my own sites due to a number of unsuccessful logins (over an undisclosed period of time, despite requests). When they restored the service, the email accounts were missing; they were only restored after I gave a few hints on what could be wrong. Multiple members of their helpdesk staff suggested that my mail could be hosted by someone else - without even bothering to check the MX records. When the email accounts could finally be re-established it managed to delete the mail directory for the relevant addresses. The helpdesk staff helpfully suggested restoring a directory (at a $150 charge) which had nothing to do with the missing mail. Finally they acceded to my demands to restore the specific directory that I was after. All mail finally recovered; that only took over a week. No, Net Registry, that was not a pleasant experience and after many years of service provision I'm afraid I'll be going elsewhere.

In the mid-90s I spent some time with the Sydney-based Clan Analogue and the famous Lanfranchi's warehouse of the Evil Brotherhood of Mutants. But it is not that clan analogue I am referring to. Rather it was the thoughts that ran through my mind at the time, of a future where a handful of die-hards held on to a collection of vinyl and turntables. Well, I was asked recently at work whether I owned a turntable. "Maybe", I replied accurately as it just so happened that I had purchased a Sony PS-LX47P (not exactly a top-line model) that day which was delivered today which, by pure luck, is exactly the model which fits my amplifier and the rest of the system (I love Sony's hardware, it's their IP lawyers I want to shoot). As a result I've been loving the sounds of my modest vinyl collection once again. Every hiss and crackle has its own story. Like the difference between people and robots, it is those glorious imperfections that give the sound added character and beauty. There is much to be said for digital; but I will always still love to visit the land of clan analogue.