Maglorfin

So this book is coming out soon. Has anybody (pre)ordered it yet? I'm very interested and I can't wait to lay my hands on this one, I'm sure I'll like it as least as much as I like Adams's book about LotR music. 007 and his music certainly deserve a book such as this, and no better time to publish it than the 50th anniversary!

The renowned composer died yesterday, 68 years old. May he rest in peace!

As it seems, something bad is happening in Dutch culture, as "the devastating cuts in arts and culture in the Netherlands" are said to have been put in effect. In support of affected Dutch musicians, many renowned (as well as not so well-known) orchestras around the world are playing and recording a short excerpt from Soldier of Orange film score which Rogier van Otterloo composed in 1977 (what a good year! ). More than 50 orchestras have participated so far and posted their performances on YouTube. Here is an example by the LSO and Valery Gergiev.



I probably wouldn't know or hear of his for some time, hadn't our own Slovenian Philharmonic orchestra performed the piece this last Friday as an addition to their scheduled subscription series concert which I attended (they played music by Sibelius, Smetana and Janaček). After the intermission, the concertmaster stood up and announced the piece, as well as saying a few words of support.

I think it's a great idea and if anybody here is involved in a symphony orchestra, be it a professional or amateur one, why not download a piece from the SoO website (here, you can also read a lot of additional information) and perform it at your next concert. Let us also show support of Dutch musicians, music and culture in general!

P. S.: Maybe all Dutch forum members can elaborate on this situation, since it's happening in your country, you probably know even better what is going on and update us on how this unfortunate situation unwinds.

Mark's post in the health topic gave me the idea for the new one. I wonder if anybody knows where JW's actual house/home is, does anybody actually have any idea where the maestro himself live? Where's this famous house that Spielberg gets invited to so many times and where Margot Kidder had her miserable go at singing Can You Read My Mind in the middle of "Oscars everywhere"? Is it somewhere secret with no neighours around for miles and the JP-styled electric fence? Or is it a perfectly normal home somewhere in the sunny suburbia, much like the one in Edward Scissorhands and JW has a lot of friendly neighbours around to borrow the sugar from if he runs out of it? Please tell me truly, dear fellow JWFanners. I've been wondering about this for years, but had never thought of making a thread about it so let's hear some ideas!

My dear friends, I have a question and I know many of you will be able to put my fears to rest. I've recently bought a new LED TV, a 37" Samsung model UE37C5100. I've tried it with everything already - DVDs, Blu-rays, normal TV etc. and it works great, I'm very happy with the terrific picture and its overal performance. However, there is a sentence or two in the user manual that mystifies me, maybe even scares me to some degree:

Do not watch in 4:3 format for a long time. Traces of borders displayed on the left, right and centre of the screen may cause image retention (screen burn) which are not covered by the warranty.

And later again:

Avoid displaying still images (like jpeg picture files) or still image element (like TV programme logo, panorama or 4:3 image format, stock or news bar at screen bottom etc.) on the screen. Constant displaying of still picture can cause ghosting of LED screen, which will affect image quality. To reduce risk of this effect, please follow below recommendations:
• Avoid displaying the same TV channel for long periods.
• Always try do display any image on full screen, use TV set picture format menu for best possible match.
• Reduce brightness and contrast values to minimum required to achieve desired picture quality, exceeded values may speed up the burnout process.
• Frequently use all TV features designed to reduce image retention and screen burnout, refer to proper user manual section for details.
WARNINGS: Image retention, commonly known as screen burn-in, can occur on most types of television if the same image is displayed continuously. The most common causes of image retention are logos that remain stationary on the TV screen. These logos are common on many programmes received via a Set-top Box. To reduce this risk, avoid displaying still images for long durations and lower the brightness or contrast settings to decrease the intensity of the picture. Extended viewing of movies and programs in aspect ratios that are different from the aspect ratio of the TV may cause image retention. Always endeavour to avoid black borders top or bottom by using the zoom function. This will help eliminate the black borders and fit the picture to the entire area of the screen. Using a video game console may cause image retention and is not recommended. When using a PC input, avoid displaying still images for long durations and reduce the brightness or contrast settings to decrease the intensity of the picture.
IMPORTANT: Image retention issues are not covered by your Samsung® warranty.

Since I'm a MacGyver fan, I will definitely watch the show's many episodes on this TV (I have all seven seasons on DVD and also plan to buy some more 80s and 90s TV shows which are also in 4:3 format), and also most of my DVDs and BRs are in 1.85:1 or 2.35:1 format (1.73:1 is necessary to fill the complete screen of my TV) which both leave black borders at the top and bottom of the screen.

So my question is, do I have to be afraid of the screen burn after watching two or three MacGyver episodes one after another, or after watching e.g. the extended cuts of the LotR trilogy? It seems even the TV programme logos are a problem ... I really thought we were long past screen burn problems with the new LCD screens and that only the old CRTs were afflicted by this problem. Or is this only the problem of these new LED screens? So how worried do you guys think I should be?