(no subject)
Like a good amount of the UK (if the trending topics on Twitter are anything to go by) I was going to watch Spirited Away earlier. But after a while I found that I couldn't understand what was going on because only half of the dialogue was subtitled.
In a way, I feel like I shouldn't complain: I ended up watching most of My Neighbor Totoro on another channel (I missed the beginning of it), and it was just beautiful and I probably would have never watched it otherwise (and as it was in Japanese, I didn't have to worry about subtitles, because it was shown with subs for an English-speaking audience!). But at the same time, I really would have liked to watch Spirited Away and been able to understand and enjoy it as much as someone who could hear all the dialogue. Which is pretty much the point of subtitles, right?
Thing is, I don't know where the problem is: the problem could be with my TV/cable box, or with my cable company, or with the broadcasters. If I watch something on normal TV (i.e.: not using the cable box), I can't have subtitles, so I can't rule out any of the three on my own. What I need is to hear from other people in the UK who regularly use subtitles when watching TV to see if they have had similar problems. Only I don't think I actually know anyone who does.
This doesn't happen often and it's only something I've noticed on the BBC channels (but that's probably because the subtitles on those channels are generally quite good, and I do watch a great deal of their stuff). The last time I remember it happening was during the most recent season of Merlin - it happened so much through the first few episodes that I just gave up trying to watch it at all. It might have happened since then, but it's only something that I'd remember if it happened during something I really wanted to watch at the time. I nearly always have the subtitles switched on and the way my cable box is set up means that it's pretty obvious when the subtitles are being switched off/on.
I don't know what to do about this.
In other news, the big cookies I made while playing FFX yesterday are lovely - I've eaten the caramel cookies (caramel flavoured with bits of caramel wafer), which were delicious but turned out a little more like a flattish cake than a cookie. I ignored the recipe's instruction of "do not flatten before cooking" for the second batch (chocolate chunk) which turned out much more cookie-like - that said, I probably went a little too far when I flattened them again halfway through the cooking time (you can still see the marks from the spatula I used to flatten them with!), but you live and learn. Also, I'm not sure that they're quite as good as the cupcakes I made last week while playing Devil May Cry, but it's difficult to tell, because the cupcakes no longer exist. Not that the cookies are expected to last much longer. Which is pretty bad seeing as I'm by myself this weekend (and possibly most/all of next week). Also, choosing between cookies and cupcakes is ridiculously difficult thing to do anyway. You'd have to be a really horrible person to make people choose between the two.
View poll: Cookies or cupcakes?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find the bottle of washing up liquid that I've somehow managed to lose today.
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In a way, I feel like I shouldn't complain: I ended up watching most of My Neighbor Totoro on another channel (I missed the beginning of it), and it was just beautiful and I probably would have never watched it otherwise (and as it was in Japanese, I didn't have to worry about subtitles, because it was shown with subs for an English-speaking audience!). But at the same time, I really would have liked to watch Spirited Away and been able to understand and enjoy it as much as someone who could hear all the dialogue. Which is pretty much the point of subtitles, right?
Thing is, I don't know where the problem is: the problem could be with my TV/cable box, or with my cable company, or with the broadcasters. If I watch something on normal TV (i.e.: not using the cable box), I can't have subtitles, so I can't rule out any of the three on my own. What I need is to hear from other people in the UK who regularly use subtitles when watching TV to see if they have had similar problems. Only I don't think I actually know anyone who does.
This doesn't happen often and it's only something I've noticed on the BBC channels (but that's probably because the subtitles on those channels are generally quite good, and I do watch a great deal of their stuff). The last time I remember it happening was during the most recent season of Merlin - it happened so much through the first few episodes that I just gave up trying to watch it at all. It might have happened since then, but it's only something that I'd remember if it happened during something I really wanted to watch at the time. I nearly always have the subtitles switched on and the way my cable box is set up means that it's pretty obvious when the subtitles are being switched off/on.
I don't know what to do about this.
In other news, the big cookies I made while playing FFX yesterday are lovely - I've eaten the caramel cookies (caramel flavoured with bits of caramel wafer), which were delicious but turned out a little more like a flattish cake than a cookie. I ignored the recipe's instruction of "do not flatten before cooking" for the second batch (chocolate chunk) which turned out much more cookie-like - that said, I probably went a little too far when I flattened them again halfway through the cooking time (you can still see the marks from the spatula I used to flatten them with!), but you live and learn. Also, I'm not sure that they're quite as good as the cupcakes I made last week while playing Devil May Cry, but it's difficult to tell, because the cupcakes no longer exist. Not that the cookies are expected to last much longer. Which is pretty bad seeing as I'm by myself this weekend (and possibly most/all of next week). Also, choosing between cookies and cupcakes is ridiculously difficult thing to do anyway. You'd have to be a really horrible person to make people choose between the two.
View poll: Cookies or cupcakes?
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go find the bottle of washing up liquid that I've somehow managed to lose today.
comments | reply