I was surprised to find that I could access my Facebook advertising preferences again, after the section stopped working in January 2019. What was there was still way off, in June 2021, but it’s nice to be able to edit (read delete) them again after two-and-a-half years. Things move slowly in Menlo Park when it […]
Tag: retro
Other than the ending, this is my only memory of St Elsewhere
Conversation with Mum, some time in the 1980s. The credits for St Elsewhere begin rolling, and they read, ‘and starring William Daniels as Dr. Mark Craig’. Two taller actors flank Daniels as they walk toward the camera. I say, ‘Mum, that’s the guy who plays KITT on Knight Rider.’ She replies, ‘He’s […]
Read More… from Other than the ending, this is my only memory of St Elsewhere
Helvetica in metal, 1985
This was the back of Mum’s 1985 tax assessment slip from the IRD. Helvetica, in metal. The bold looks a bit narrow: a condensed cut, or just a compromised version because of the machinery used? Not often seen, since by this time phototypesetting was the norm, though one reason Car magazine was a good […]
More TV Dregs, please
I was looking through the old JY&A links’ section, which dates back to the beginning of the site in the 1990s (indeed, back to Windows 3·1, as we couldn’t use a file name with more than three letters in the suffix). The last revamp of its look was over 15 years ago, judging by its […]
From my desk, 1986
Before this gets recycled, I thought I’d scan it as a memento: a 1986 printout off our Riteman dot matrix printer (which I still have, with spare cartridges), hooked up to a Commodore 64. I forget the printer interface. The image isn’t mine: I only imagine that 14-year-old me was claiming copyright over the layout […]
BMW, then and now
This isn’t progress. Nice one, as always! Makes me wonder what was wrong with this credo: "Fashionable styling gimmicks are entirely absent, and the dimensions suit the traffic conditions of today." pic.twitter.com/XhpyW6P1Bs — Kolbenkopp (@kolbenkopp) January 7, 2021 You may also like Rocketman’s most annoying scene Fun for car anoraks—till you get to the factual […]
The Grundig parts’ cache time capsule
When Dad was made redundant from Cory-Wright & Salmon, which had purchased his workplace, Turnbull & Jones, he bought all the Grundig equipment and accessories, thinking that he would find it useful. And for a while he did. The odd one he cannibalized, while the parts were used and adapted. Cory-Wright wound up contracting him […]
A concert that takes you home
One bonus of the lockdown was the live Easter Day concert held by Hong Kong’s own Sam Hui (許冠傑), perhaps fairly described as the king of Cantopop. I had no idea this was even on if it weren’t for the fire at the Baxter’s Knob transmitter that took out television transmission in our […]
Spoiler alert: The Avengers’ endgame
I’m hearing the young people talk about this lately. But we already know how The Avengers ends. Then they come back with some new cast members years later. John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Tara King (Linda Thorson) on board a rocket. You may also like Not quite a remake, but similar Is your favourite […]
Remarks on the typography of Star Wars
Star Wars is in my feed in a big way. To get up to speed on the film series, I had to start with the memorable theme by John Williams. Thanks, Bill and Paul. And who better to describe the plot than someone else in the science-fiction world, Doctor Who? Seriously though, I […]