Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
It's patchy whether new releases turn up on the Saturday before or not anymore — this week, not. So really it's just the monthly running time update that's new here.
Number of titles in collection: 3,695 [no change]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,730 [no change]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 528 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 8,862 [no change]
Number of films: 4,749 [no change]
Number of additional cuts: 494 [no change]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,296 [no change]
Total running time of collection (approx.):
618 days, 6 hours, and 12 minutes.
(Up 22 hours and 47 minutes from last month.)
See you next week, faithful reader.
Saturday, 23 May 2026
Friday, 22 May 2026
Articles
Tosca review – Puccini’s high-octane bloodbath bonanza makes for a shocking festival kick-off
and
‘Really entertaining in a horrible way’: the indestructible appeal of Tosca
by Flora Willson (from the Guardian)
I'm going to see this production next month. Sounds like it's gonna be good.
and
‘Really entertaining in a horrible way’: the indestructible appeal of Tosca
by Flora Willson (from the Guardian)
I'm going to see this production next month. Sounds like it's gonna be good.
Tuesday, 19 May 2026
Fiction
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Preface to the First Edition
Sonnet
Chapter 1
The first-ever Gothic novel! I've been meaning to read this forever. Decided to finally dive in on a whim.
Preface to the First Edition
Sonnet
Chapter 1
The first-ever Gothic novel! I've been meaning to read this forever. Decided to finally dive in on a whim.
Monday, 18 May 2026
Video Games
007: Everything or Nothing
Well, technically I played it — replayed one level to test all the additional fiddling I'd been doing! Basically, I had to re-do everything I did months ago (even more than I'd done yesterday; though it had remembered a few things I'd done to Wind Waker, at least), which involved copious googling and whatnot, because of course I couldn't remember exactly what I did before (I'd done it, I didn't need to still know it!) A bunch of time spent getting things exactly how they used to be — ugh. Hope it doesn't forget its settings on a regular basis, because I don't want to have to keep doing this.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I'm about to be away for a few days, so I wanted to make sure to get some Skyrim in (after missing yesterday) to avoid another Situation. For once, decided to revel in enjoying the mood and atmosphere rather than worrying about Doing Stuff. Did come across some Thalmor and slaughtered them, though. Both were nice. If I ever get a VR headset, I'll have to get Skyrim VR... but then I might never leave...
Well, technically I played it — replayed one level to test all the additional fiddling I'd been doing! Basically, I had to re-do everything I did months ago (even more than I'd done yesterday; though it had remembered a few things I'd done to Wind Waker, at least), which involved copious googling and whatnot, because of course I couldn't remember exactly what I did before (I'd done it, I didn't need to still know it!) A bunch of time spent getting things exactly how they used to be — ugh. Hope it doesn't forget its settings on a regular basis, because I don't want to have to keep doing this.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
I'm about to be away for a few days, so I wanted to make sure to get some Skyrim in (after missing yesterday) to avoid another Situation. For once, decided to revel in enjoying the mood and atmosphere rather than worrying about Doing Stuff. Did come across some Thalmor and slaughtered them, though. Both were nice. If I ever get a VR headset, I'll have to get Skyrim VR... but then I might never leave...
Sunday, 17 May 2026
Video Games
007: Everything or Nothing
Back when I got my Steam Deck, one of the first things I did was set up emulation to be able to play this Bond game — I’ve actually owned it for years (it was released on GameCube, though I can’t remember if I bought it then or picked it up later when I had a Wii) but never actually played it. I even spent a tonne of time fiddling around to make it nicer — not just living with the default settings, but getting the emulator to render it in HD, getting the widescreen working (much harder than it should be), and buying an adapter so I could use one of my original GameCube controllers. After all that tinkering, I got it just right… and then went and played other stuff. For eight whole months. Ha.
I’ve been meaning to get back to it ever since, especially with the new Bond game looming, and today I finally pulled my finger out. And immediately… spent over half-an-hour fiddling and faffing again because it wasn’t running right. I guess some update or other to the emulators broke it. (I dread to think that it’s done the same to my (also perfectly set up after much fiddling) copy of Wind Waker, but I didn’t dare check.)
But I got there in the end… although, to be honest, it didn’t feel as pleasant to play as it did last time. I don’t know if the emulator software’s changed, or if I didn’t get the settings quite as just-so as before, or if I just replayed the opening level so many damn times back then that I’m misremembering how easy it was because I simply got so good at it. Certainly, I found some levels more of a struggle than I expected — don’t know if that’s just my skill level, or the barrier of using old kit (the controller is quarter-of-a-century old and has spent most of that time in storage, after all), or just how game design has changed in the intervening years.
In fact, there are multiple ways the game feels odd beside from the gameplay / level design. For example, there’s a “level” which is just a series of cutscenes — no interaction, you just watch them. For no apparent reason, some are pre-rendered but some are realised in-engine. At one point, there’s a pre-rendered shot of Bond and Q riding in an elevator for a couple of seconds, which they exit and it cuts to the scene proper which is in-engine. Why?! I don’t know if it was always odd or that’s just a way things have changed since. Amusingly, the pre-rendered scenes were no doubt meant to be higher quality moments back then, but now they’re low-res and blurry and riddled with compression artefacts and glitches, whereas the stuff rendered in-engine is in HD thanks to my settings changes and so looks much better.
Still, I overcame all that to progress through 7 of the game’s 32 levels, about an hour of playtime, before — frankly — I’d had enough. Bit disappointing to find it so underwhelming and awkward after I’d been looking forward to playing it for so long. I do intend to finish it, but with a bit less enthusiasm now.
Back when I got my Steam Deck, one of the first things I did was set up emulation to be able to play this Bond game — I’ve actually owned it for years (it was released on GameCube, though I can’t remember if I bought it then or picked it up later when I had a Wii) but never actually played it. I even spent a tonne of time fiddling around to make it nicer — not just living with the default settings, but getting the emulator to render it in HD, getting the widescreen working (much harder than it should be), and buying an adapter so I could use one of my original GameCube controllers. After all that tinkering, I got it just right… and then went and played other stuff. For eight whole months. Ha.
I’ve been meaning to get back to it ever since, especially with the new Bond game looming, and today I finally pulled my finger out. And immediately… spent over half-an-hour fiddling and faffing again because it wasn’t running right. I guess some update or other to the emulators broke it. (I dread to think that it’s done the same to my (also perfectly set up after much fiddling) copy of Wind Waker, but I didn’t dare check.)
But I got there in the end… although, to be honest, it didn’t feel as pleasant to play as it did last time. I don’t know if the emulator software’s changed, or if I didn’t get the settings quite as just-so as before, or if I just replayed the opening level so many damn times back then that I’m misremembering how easy it was because I simply got so good at it. Certainly, I found some levels more of a struggle than I expected — don’t know if that’s just my skill level, or the barrier of using old kit (the controller is quarter-of-a-century old and has spent most of that time in storage, after all), or just how game design has changed in the intervening years.
In fact, there are multiple ways the game feels odd beside from the gameplay / level design. For example, there’s a “level” which is just a series of cutscenes — no interaction, you just watch them. For no apparent reason, some are pre-rendered but some are realised in-engine. At one point, there’s a pre-rendered shot of Bond and Q riding in an elevator for a couple of seconds, which they exit and it cuts to the scene proper which is in-engine. Why?! I don’t know if it was always odd or that’s just a way things have changed since. Amusingly, the pre-rendered scenes were no doubt meant to be higher quality moments back then, but now they’re low-res and blurry and riddled with compression artefacts and glitches, whereas the stuff rendered in-engine is in HD thanks to my settings changes and so looks much better.
Still, I overcame all that to progress through 7 of the game’s 32 levels, about an hour of playtime, before — frankly — I’d had enough. Bit disappointing to find it so underwhelming and awkward after I’d been looking forward to playing it for so long. I do intend to finish it, but with a bit less enthusiasm now.
Saturday, 16 May 2026
Films
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
[#25 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
Blindspot 2026 #3
This was meant to be part of WDYMYHS 2019. Seven years late, I've finally got there!
[#25 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2026]
Blindspot 2026 #3
This was meant to be part of WDYMYHS 2019. Seven years late, I've finally got there!
Video Games
Buffet Knight: Decadent Full Course
Had felt a little like I was going back and forth over the same areas making minor progress... then opened up one new pathway and loads more of the map. Fun times. Probably playing it incredibly inefficiently, just wandering around, back and forth, but hey, that's kinda what I was taught to do by...
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
I don't really know if I should log this — it's kind of like logging wallpaper, considering it just sits there. Though wallpaper doesn't drop a new varient every now and then that you can give a name, I guess.
Had felt a little like I was going back and forth over the same areas making minor progress... then opened up one new pathway and loads more of the map. Fun times. Probably playing it incredibly inefficiently, just wandering around, back and forth, but hey, that's kinda what I was taught to do by...
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
Placid Plastic Duck Simulator
I don't really know if I should log this — it's kind of like logging wallpaper, considering it just sits there. Though wallpaper doesn't drop a new varient every now and then that you can give a name, I guess.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
This week, a trio of Masters of Cinema titles turned up a whole week early, thanks to ordering direct. Plus another Akira Kurosawa in HD from the BFI, and a feature-length Hammer documentary from, er, Hammer themselves. Two of those are upgrades, but in both cases the previous copies are in box sets, so they're going nowhere.
Number of titles in collection: 3,695 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,730 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 528 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,862 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,749 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 494 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,296 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
This week, a trio of Masters of Cinema titles turned up a whole week early, thanks to ordering direct. Plus another Akira Kurosawa in HD from the BFI, and a feature-length Hammer documentary from, er, Hammer themselves. Two of those are upgrades, but in both cases the previous copies are in box sets, so they're going nowhere.
Number of titles in collection: 3,695 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 965 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,730 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 528 [up 1]
Number of discs in collection: 8,862 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,749 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 494 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 10,134 [no change]
Number of short films: 1,296 [up 3]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 15 May 2026
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