One remote to rule them all...

One of the very nice birthday presents I've been given this year is a universal remote, which is replacing the fistful of old remotes I've been using to control my digital-TV-box/VCR-DVD/stereo/TV setup up till now, which required pressing 5 or 6 buttons on 4 different remotes just to turn the TV on and watch something, then a similar process in reverse to turn them all off. The new one (from Logitech, in case anyone was wondering) does the whole lot with a single button-press for 'on' and another for 'off' - well at least it does now that I've set it up properly via the software after an occasional teething problem or two in the early stages. I have to also say that I'm particularly impressed that it manages to communicate sensibly with my $90 no-name-brand digital box, I was expecting a few dramas there but haven't seen any to date. So, colour me chuffed.

In other random comments:

* Since when has Australian football become a giant game of hot-potato, where everyone just tries to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible because anyone who gets caught with it is almost automatically penalised? This annoys me, because it means that the guys who are actually making the play by grabbing hold of the ball are the ones who are always giving away a free kick. So, when someone kicks the ball straight up in the air, everyone just mills around and waits to tackle whoever is stupid enough to try to grab it, rather than going for the ball themselves. Doesn't seem right to me.

* The new Stuart Murdoch album is really good - there's a couple of revisions of previous Belle & Sebastian songs, a few new ones, and a completely different vocal sound compared to the usual B&S style. Works nicely for me. Oh, and Bishop Allen are really good also.

* The start of August means winter is almost over. Yay.

* The Aussie cricket team is doing so appallingly at the moment that I'm actually hoping it'll rain to prevent them from losing again. Surely it's possible for them to find a swing bowler or two to practise against, rather than looking like it's the first time they've seen a ball curving through the air, every single time they play against England? And also, anyone who leaves a ball alone only to watch it hit their stumps should be made to run laps of the oval from now till next Sunday so they can think about their sins. This applies equally to Mike Hussey and Kevin Pietersen, I'm not going to limit it to members of one team or the other...

* The guy who just got eliminated from the Amazing Race reminds me (physically and in speech patterns) a little too much of Cletus the slack-jawed yokel, from the Simpsons. This is unfortunate, because he seemed a nice guy... even if he and his wife weren't very good at the race.

* After reading this very interesting article (and no, I don't usually read Men's Health magazine, I came across a link to the article somewhere else), I'm trying to run a bit less on my heels and a bit more on my toes, to see if it helps me either run better or ruin my knees less. Seems to be working so far, although my calves aren't entirely convinced it's a good idea yet...