Quick Roku vs Ubuntu Rygel DLNA Note

(from the Okaaaay department)

Trying to get media streaming working between Ubuntu using the default Rygel DLNA server in Gnome and the Roku Media Player.

For some reason, Roku wants Rygel to transcode all MP4/H.264 videos to MPEG.  Rygel goes "OK - I can do that" then errors out.

Other DLNA clients work fine.

So - as a Hail Mary - in ~/.config/rygel.conf - I disabled transcoding.

# Set it to 'false' if you want to disable transcoding support.

enable-transcoding=false

Now - Roku accepts the videos as MP4 and plays them back great.

Hmm - not quite sure where's the breakdown here.  Why didn't Roku ask for MP4 in the first place, since that's the file encoding?  Why did transcoding break anyway?  

Weird.

Cheers,

Paul

National Pancake Day - March 4, 2025

(from the Has It Really Been Five Years? department)

Hey - long time no pancake.  How've you been?  I think it's time for a stack of pancakes!

This time - we learned from the past.  Dana, Rose & I headed down to our local IHOP at about 5:00 PM.  We were able to be seated immediately.  After looking at the menu, we ordered our free pancakes, and I got a burger - with hash browns:

Burger - Not Pancake

Pancake - Not Burger

Rose ordered a strawberry crepe with her pancakes.  Dana asked if she could add blueberries to her free stack:

Ready To Dig In!!

A Thumbs - And A Butter Knife - Up!

We really enjoyed our meal.  Good thing we went early too. When we left at 6:00 PM - the line for pancakes was out the door:

Patiently Waiting For Pancakes

For more information - check out IHOP's website here:  National Pancake Day 2025 - Enjoy Free Pancakes at IHOP®

Cheers,
Paul

Kooza!!!

(from the I Can't Believe They Can Do That! department)

Hi everyone,

We went to the latest Cirque Du Soleil travelling production last night - Kooza.  It was in a big tent at Marymoor Park in Redmond.  Really well done.  

I'll leave the description of the show to other bloggers, but it's kind of a modernization of traditional circuses.  There's a ringleader, clowns, acrobats, etc.  They're not exactly the same as a Ringling Bros. show - but the roles are there, just done in a Cirque Du Soleil way.  

A note about the aerial work.  Some of it is incredible.  There's a section they do with a spinning structure that defies belief.  The tightrope walking is pretty amazing too.  But - seriously - all of the performers were outstanding.  Hard to pick the best, really.

The music was really good too - really tight band playing live.  The current touring group features a drummer named Eden Bahar, who holds the Guinness World Record for "Most drumstick spins in one minute (one hand)".  He set the record of 149 on 13-Sept-2018.  They gave him a solo spot in the show - he really shined, without being overbearing.  

Finally - we did manage to get a picture at the event:

You'll notice I'm wearing my down jacket.  I had on a blue-green t-shirt that matched the backdrop.  I kept disappearing in the photos.  Luckily - I had a zip-up down jacket - or you would have seen a much different photo!

They also gave us the raw image:

All in all - it was a magical night.  We had a lot of fun!

Cheers,
Paul