Free live music in Las Palmas, January 2019

This January I spent precisely €0.00 on entrance tickets, and extracted quite a value from my modest investment.

• 17 January: Javier Sánchez @ Teatro Guiniguada, Plaza F. Mesa de León, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  From 5 to 7 pm, Javi Sánchez gave a free masterclass of jazz guitar organised by Mousikê La Laguna. Without knowing much what to expect from it, I brought guitar with me (as did a few other attendees). It turned out that we have different ideas what a “masterclass” should be. OK, we had a master and we had a class. To me, it was a two-hour lecture, with a lot of examples played, on jazz guitar rhythm, harmony and improvisation, with practically zero interaction and, obviously, no students strumming their axes (so one could be better off watching this kind of class on YouTube). Saying that, I really enjoyed Javi’s playing. I have to admit that guitar scales never sounded as fascinating before.



• 20 January: Marinah @ Parque Doramas
  Unbelievably, the very first concert I attended this year was that of Marinah performing in broad daylight (from 12 to 14 and yes, it was sunny for a change) as a part of the Música en el Parque series. (In December, it was Dobet Gnahoré!) Featuring Marina Abad (lead vocal), Regis Molina (sax and flute), Miguel “Muchacho” Serviole (flamenco guitar), Jose “Montaña” (percussion), Diego Coppinger (electric bass) and Justin Miranda (drums).

  

  Marinah

  

  More photos of Marinah @ Shutterstock

• 26 January: Gran Canaria Big Band @ Parque Doramas
  The Gran Canaria Big Band opened the 2019 Musicando season with the show Esencia latina, featuring the voices of Beatriz Alonso Hernández, Rebeca Mora and Virginia Guantanamera. Argentine, Brazilian, Cuban and Mexican standards and even one song in Valenciano!

  

• 27 January: Marta dell’Anno and Andrea Marchesino @ Clipper La Puntilla, Calle Caleta
  The duo of Marta dell’Anno (vocal, viola) and Andrea Marchesino (guitar) played the first Isleta Sunset concert of 2019, their versatile repertoire ranging from traditional Italian songs to gypsy swing.
• 31 January: Roland Satterwhite and North Sea String Quartet @ Paraninfo de La Universidad de Las Palmas, Calle Juan de Quesada, 30
  Roland Satterwhite is an American singer-songwriter-violist-violinist living in Berlin; NSSQ is Rotterdam-based ensemble consisting of Karin van Kooten (violin), Pablo Rodríguez (violin), Yanna Pelser (viola) and Thomas van Geelen (cello). I first heard about Roland+NSSQ just after Marta dell’Anno and Andrea Marchesino on Sunday (see above): they were about to jam at Fabrica La Isleta the very same night. I did not go there. Instead, Timur and I went to see them at the Auditorium of the ULPGC (the same venue where I saw Ariadna Castellanos Trio almost five years ago). It was magical. I’ve never heard or seen this kind of string quartet before. The variety of techniques they use and styles they play is mind-blowing, and yet they have their own (and beautiful) distinctive sound. Roland Satterwhite is all right singer but it is his particular way of bluesy pizzicato viola playing that impressed me the most.
  There was a group of kids with violins and/or bows sitting in the auditorium who turned out to be the members of Barrios Orquestados. In the end of the concert, they all came on stage and played: first Billie Jean on their own, then C Jam Blues and Take Five with NSSQ, and finally, one more song, Autobiography with Roland and NSSQ. Apparently, the guests were practising these songs with children from 4 pm. What a wonderful way to end the month.

Их нравы

First published 29 January 2019 @ sólo algunas palabras

In Russian, possessive pronouns (притяжательные местоимения) agree with the noun of the possessed, or possessee, in case, gender, and number. To be more precise, this is the case for the first person, мой (my), наш (our), твой (thy) and ваш (your). In the third person singular, we don’t care about case, gender, and number of the possessee anymore, however the distinction is made between masculine and neuter его (his, its) and feminine её (her). Finally, for the third person plural possessor, the unique form их (their) is used. You can’t go wrong with их. Well, almost.

		Possessor
Number →		Singular					Plural			Self
Person →		1	2	3			1	2	3
				m	n	f
Possessee
Nominative	m	мой	твой	его	его	её	наш	ваш	их	свой
	n	моё	твоё	его	его	её	наше	ваше	их	своё
	f	моя	твоя	его	его	её	наша	ваша	их	своя
	pl	мои	твои	его	его	её	наши	ваши	их	свои
Genitive	m	моего	твоего	его	его	её	нашего	вашего	их	своего
	n	моего	твоего	его	его	её	нашего	вашего	их	своего
	f	моей	твоей	его	его	её	нашей	вашей	их	своей
	pl	моих	твоих	его	его	её	наших	ваших	их	своих
Dative	m	моему	твоему	его	его	её	нашему	вашему	их	своему
	n	моему	твоему	его	его	её	нашему	вашему	их	своему
	f	моей	твоей	его	его	её	нашей	вашей	их	своей
	pl	моим	твоим	его	его	её	нашим	вашим	их	своим
Accusative	m animate	моего	твоего	его	его	её	нашего	вашего	их	своего
	m inanimate	мой	твой	его	его	её	наш	ваш	их	свой
	n	моё	твоё	его	его	её	наше	ваше	их	своё
	f	мою	твою	его	его	её	нашу	вашу	их	свою
	pl animate	моих	твоих	его	его	её	наших	ваших	их	своих
	pl inanimate	мои	твои	его	его	её	наши	ваши	их	свои
Instrumental	m	моим	твоим	его	его	её	нашим	вашим	их	своим
	n	моим	твоим	его	его	её	нашим	вашим	их	своим
	f	моей	твоей	его	его	её	нашей	вашей	их	своей
	pl	моими	твоими	его	его	её	нашими	вашими	их	своими
Prepositional	m	моём	твоём	его	его	её	нашем	вашем	их	своём
	n	моём	твоём	его	его	её	нашем	вашем	их	своём
	f	моей	твоей	его	его	её	нашей	вашей	их	своей
	pl	моих	твоих	его	его	её	наших	ваших	их	своих

The word Ваш (capitalised in written Russian) is the polite form of second-person singular or plural possessive pronoun. Grammatically, it behaves exactly like ваш, even if you address just one person, for example «Ваше величество» (Your Majesty). When we talk about the single royal, say the Queen, in the third person, we should utilise the third person singular, i.e. «её величество» (Her Majesty), not «их величество», if we don’t want to sound illiterate. Note that Russian styles such as величество (Majesty), высочество (Highness), сиятельство, светлость, превосходительство (Excellency), преосвященство (Holiness) etc. are invariably neuter.

The reflexive-possessive pronoun свой does not have analogue in English. It always points to the subject of the sentence irrespectively of the person, gender, and number of that subject. It could be roughly translated as “one’s own”... except that “own” has its own exact analogue, собственный. This latter is used to amplify the sense of possession, so свой собственный stands for “one’s very own”.

With свой, we avoid possible tautology. For example, «у тебя есть своя машина» is better than somewhat repetitive «у тебя есть твоя машина». Another reason to use свой is to sound a bit less personal. In the sayings like «своя рубашка ближе к телу», the subject (the owner of this proverbial shirt) is not identified, probably because «моя рубашка ближе к телу» would sound too mean. It sounds mean enough as it is.

Russian possessive pronouns can be nominalised as to refer to (a group of) people. For example, the word наши also means “our people” and in times of war was often used as an antonym of враги “enemy”. The idiom «и нашим и вашим» (literally, “both to ours and to yours”) is a (shorter!) Russian equivalent of “hold with the hare and run with the hounds”. Likewise, свой or свои could mean “one’s kin” or “friend” as in «Свой среди чужих, чужой среди своих», “At home among strangers, a stranger among his own”.

Моей душе покоя нет	My heart is sair
Сын или Бог, я твой	Son or God, I’m thine
Первая его работа вызвала большой шум.	His first work caused quite a stir.
Но, к великому её сожалению, банка оказалась пустой.	But to her great disappointment it was empty.
Отче наш	Our Father
Их нравы	Their morals
Свои люди — сочтёмся	It’s a Family Affair — We’ll Settle It Ourselves

The Soviet-era posters used a lot of наш while reserving их for the enemy.

Разгильдяев с производства гони: наши машины портят они
Kick the slobs out of the production line, they damage our machinery

Трудовой народ, строй свой Воздухофлот
Workers, build your own Air Fleet

Ребята! Ваша шалость с огнём приводит к пожару
Children! Your messing around with fire leads to conflagration

Добьём немецко-фашистских захватчиков в их берлоге!
Let’s finish off the Nazi invaders in their lair!

Printable table of Russian possessive pronouns

Epigrams and Epitaphs

by Robert Burns and Samuil Marshak

Rabbie Burns, I fancy, was not exactly the nicest person in the world. Maybe that’s why I just love his epigrams and epitaphs. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell which is which. I guess he really wished for some of his epigrams to become epitaphs. In the end, his wish was granted.

Marshak certainly took a lot of liberties with Burns’ epigrams. I think that did them a lot of good. By doing away with proper names, Marshak put these short poems beyond time and place. For example, Epigram On Miss Davies has a subtitle: “On being asked why she had been formed so little, and Mrs. A — so big”. Marshak just called it «Девушке маленького роста» (“To a girl of short stature”). Likewise, On Andrew Turner became «О происхождении одной особы» (“On origin of a certain person”), and so forth.

Happy 260^th birthday, Mr Burns.

Robert Burns	Роберт Бёрнс, перевод С.Я. Маршака
Epigram On Rough Roads	О плохих дорогах
I’m now arrived — thanks to the gods! — Thro’ pathways rough and muddy, A certain sign that makin roads Is no this people’s study: Altho’ I’ m not wi’ Scripture cram’d, I’m sure the Bible says That heedless sinners shall be damn’d, Unless they mend their ways.	Я ехал к вам то вплавь, то вброд. Меня хранили боги. Не любит местный ваш народ Чинить свои дороги. Строку из Библии прочти, О город многогрешный: Коль ты не выпрямишь пути, Пойдёшь ты в ад кромешный!
Epigram On The Laird Of Laggan	Надпись на могиле честолюбца
When Morine, deceas’d, to the Devil went down, ’Twas nothing would serve him but Satan’s own crown; “Thy fool’s head,” quoth Satan, “that crown shall wear never, I grant thou’rt as wicked, but not quite so clever.”	Покойник был дурак и так любил чины, Что требует в аду короны сатаны. — Нет, — молвил сатана. — Ты зол, и даже слишком, Но надо обладать каким-нибудь умишком!
On Andrew Turner	О происхождении одной особы
In se’enteen hunder’n forty-nine, The deil gat stuff to mak a swine, An’ coost it in a corner; But wilily he chang’d his plan, An’ shap’d it something like a man, An’ ca’d it Andrew Turner.	В году семьсот сорок девятом (Точнее я не помню даты) Лепить свинью задумал чёрт. Но вдруг в последнее мгновенье Он изменил свое решенье, И вас он вылепил, милорд!
On Commissary Goldie’s Brains	О черепе тупицы
Lord, to account who dares thee call, Or e’er dispute thy pleasure? Else why, within so thick a wall, Enclose so poor a treasure?	Господь во всем, конечно, прав. Но кажется непостижимым, Зачем он создал прочный шкаф С таким убогим содержимым!
Epitaph On “Wee Johnie”	Эпитафия бездушному дельцу
Whoe’er thou art, O reader, know That Death has murder’d Johnie; An’ here his body lies fu’ low; For saul he ne’er had ony.	Здесь Джон покоится в тиши. Конечно, только тело... Но, говорят, оно души И прежде не имело!
On Wm. Graham, Esq., Of Mossknowe	Эпитафия Вильяму Грэхему, эсквайру
“Stop thief!” dame Nature call’d to Death, As Willy drew his latest breath; How shall I make a fool again? My choicest model thou hast ta’en.	Склонясь у гробового входа, — О смерть! — воскликнула природа, Когда удастся мне опять Такого олуха создать!..
On John Bushby, Esq., Tinwald Downs	Надгробная надпись
Here lies John Bushby — honest man, Cheat him, Devil — if you can!	Прошел Джон Бушби честный путь. Он жил с моралью в дружбе... Попробуй, дьявол, обмануть Такого Джона Бушби!
On Elphinstone’s Translation Of Martial’s Epigrams	Переводчику Марциала
O Thou whom Poetry abhors, Whom Prose has turned out of doors, Heard’st thou yon groan? — proceed no further, ’Twas laurel’d Martial calling murther.	О ты, кого поэзия изгнала, Кто в нашей прозе места не нашёл, — Ты слышишь крик поэта Марциала: “Разбой! Грабёж! Меня он перевёл!..”
Epitaph On Wm. Hood, Senr., In Tarbolton	Эпитафия церковному старосте, сапожнику Гуду
Here Souter Hood in death does sleep; To hell if he’s gane thither, Satan, gie him thy gear to keep; He’ll haud it weel thegither.	Пусть по приказу сатаны Покойника назначат В аду хранителем казны, — Он ловко деньги прячет.
On James Grieve, Laird Of Boghead, Tarbolton	Эпитафия владельцу усадьбы
Here lies Boghead amang the dead In hopes to get salvation; But if such as he in Heav’n may be, Then welcome, hail! damnation.	Джемс Грив Богхед Был мой сосед, И, если в рай пошёл он, Хочу я в ад, Коль райский сад Таких соседей полон.
Epitaph For James Smith	Надпись на могиле сельского волокиты
Lament him, Mauchline husbands a’, He aften did assist ye; For had ye staid hale weeks awa, Your wives they ne’er had miss’d ye. Ye Mauchline bairns, as on ye press To school in bands thegither, O tread ye lightly on his grass, — Perhaps he was your father!	Рыдайте, добрые мужья, На этой скорбной тризне. Сосед покойный, слышал я, Вам помогал при жизни. Пусть школьников шумливый рой Могилы не тревожит... Тот, кто лежит в земле сырой, Был им отцом, быть может!
Epigram On Miss Davies	Девушке маленького роста
Ask why God made the gem so small? And why so huge the granite? — Because God meant mankind should set That higher value on it.	На то и меньше мой алмаз Гранитной тёмной глыбы, Чтобы дороже во сто раз Его ценить могли бы!
Epigram At Roslin Inn	Трактирщице из Рослина
My blessings on ye, honest wife! I ne’er was here before; Ye’ve wealth o’ gear for spoon and knife — Heart could not wish for more. Heav’n keep you clear o’ sturt and strife, Till far ayont fourscore, And while I toddle on thro’ life, I’ll ne’er gae by your door!	Достойна всякого почёта Владений этих госпожа. В её таверне есть работа Для кружки, ложки и ножа. Пускай она, судьбой хранима, Ещё полвека проживет. И — верьте! — не промчусь я мимо Её распахнутых ворот!
Epigram To Miss Jean Scott	Мисс Джинни Скотт
O had each Scot of ancient times Been, Jeanie Scott, as thou art; The bravest heart on English ground Had yielded like a coward.	О, будь у скоттов каждый клан Таким, как Джинни Скотт, — Мы покорили б англичан, А не наоборот.
Lines Written Under The Picture Of The Celebrated Miss Burns	К портрету известной мисс Бёрнс
Cease, ye prudes, your envious railing, Lovely Burns has charms — confess: True it is, she had one failing, Had a woman ever less?	Полно вам шипеть, как змеи! Всех затмит она собой. Был один грешок за нею... Меньше ль было у любой?

Mi experiencia lesbiana con la soledad

by Kabi Nagata

Nagata, a lonely, depressed 28-year-old girl with a bald patch (a consequence of trichotillomania) and arms covered with self-harm scars hires an escort in order to lose her virginity in a love hotel. What could possibly go wrong?

Too many things. Much to her disappointment, Nagata’s adventure turned out to be nothing like in the erotic dōjinshi (apparently, her main source of sex education). And a good thing too, otherwise I doubt that she would create, let alone publish, My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness. But now that she did, the readers around the globe can enjoy her amazing comic. (I, for example, found the Spanish version in the library.) It is funny, heart-warming and honest. I think everybody can relate to it, no matter what is their gender, sexual orientation or level of self-esteem. Nagata does not talk much about her self-harm experience and suicidal thoughts, but they are all there. Last but not least: the author treats sex workers as well as their profession with utmost respect and gratitude.

Послушай, Зин

First published 22 January 2019 @ sólo algunas palabras

The first time I read the word зин I almost fell off the chair. (I was sitting on the sofa though.) Of course, зин is nothing but a Russian spelling of zine, itself a short of fanzine (фэнзин), which is a blend of fan and magazine. However, the meaning of the Russian word магазин (shop, store) is very different from that of magazine. My first association of зин was with the name Зин as in Vysotsky’s song:

“Ну, и меня, конечно, Зин, Всё время тянет в магазин, А там — друзья... Ведь я же, Зин, Не пью один!” Владимир Высоцкий, «Диалог у телевизора»

“And, of course, Zin, I always long for the <liquor> store, There are my friends, because, Zin, I never drink alone!” Vladimir Vysotsky, Dialogue by the TV set

By the way, I already mentioned this song when discussing Russian terms for in-laws. But why Зин instead of Зина?

You might remember that Russian has six cases. Or at least this is what we were taught in school. Well, that is not exactly true. There are remnants of up to ten additional cases! One of them is vocative. According to Russian Wikipedia, the historic Slavic vocative started to die out (by getting mixed with nominative) as early as XI century. By XIV—XV its use was restricted to addressing the higher social ranks and by mid-XVI century it disappeared from vernacular altogether, the only remaining forms being those to address the clergy. Nevertheless, until 1918, the vocative case was formally listed as the seventh case of the Russian language.

Nominative	Vocative	Meaning
Бог	Боже	God (in monotheistic religions)
Господь	Господи	Lord
Иисус	Иисусе	Jesus
Христос	Христе	Christ
владыка	владыко	lord; bishop
отец	отче	father
старец	старче	(literary) old man; elder
царь	царю	tsar, king
князь	княже	prince
человек	человече	human being, person

The handful of surviving vocative forms are still very common in both literary and spoken Russian.

Врачу, исцелися сам!	Physician, heal thyself
Отче наш, иже еси на небесе́х! Да святится имя Твое...	Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Не лепо ли ны бяшет, братие, начяти старыми словесы трудных повестий о полку Игореве, Игоря Святославлича? «Слово о полку Игореве»	Might it not become us, brothers, to begin in the diction of yore the stern tale of the campaign of Igor, Igor son of Svyatoslav? The Tale of Igor’s Campaign
«Чего тебе надобно, старче?» А. С. Пушкин, «Сказка о рыбаке и рыбке»	“What do you need, old man?” Alexander Pushkin, The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish
Ой, как худо жить Марусе В городе Тарусе! Петухи одни да гуси. Господи Исусе! Николай Заболоцкий, «Городок»	Oh what trial is Tarusa For the girl Marusya — Nothing but the hens and geese, What a living, Holy Geez! Nikolay Zabolotsky, The Town
Он говорит в ответ: — Мёртвый или живой, Pазницы, жено, нет. Сын или Бог, я твой. Иосиф Бродский, «Натюрморт»	He, in turn, explained: — Dead or alive, this time, Woman, it’s all the same. Son or God, I’m thine. Joseph Brodsky, Nature morte

In Ukrainian, vocative (кличний відмінок) is alive and kicking. In Russian literature, it is widely used to give a Ukrainian feel to dialogue (while leaving the rest 100% Russian):

— Не смейся, не смейся, батьку! — Не слушай, сынку, матери: она баба, она ничего не знает. Н. В. Гоголь, «Тарас Бульба»	“Don’t laugh, don’t laugh, father!” “Don’t listen to your mother, my son; she’s a woman, she doesn’t know anything.” Nikolai Gogol, Taras Bulba
— Вы не медик, панычу? Медики, те привыкают сразу. М. А. Булгаков, «Белая гвардия»	“Not a medical man, are you, sir? Medical gentlemen soon get used to it.” Mikhail Bulgakov, The White Guard

In modern Russian, a number of nouns of the first declension and some (typically, diminutive forms of) given names which end with -а or -я could drop the ending to form a “neo-vocative” («современный звательный» or even «новозвательный падеж»). For instance, (nominative) Зинаида → (diminutive nominative) Зина → (diminutive neo-vocative) Зин.

Full Nominative	Diminutive Nominative	Diminutive Neo-vocative
Александр (m), Александра (f)	Саня	Сань
	Саша	Саш
	Шура	Шур
Анна (f)	Аня	Ань
	Ася	Ась
	Нюра	Нюр
Алла (f)	Алка	Алк
Андрей (m)	Андрюша	Андрюш
Владимир (m)	Вова	Вов
	Вовка	Вовк
	Володя	Володь
Елена (f)	Лена	Лен
Зинаида (f)	Зина	Зин
Иван (m)	Ваня	Вань
Мария (f)	Маня	Мань
	Маша	Маш
Михаил (m)	Миша	Миш
Надежда (f)	Надя	Надь
Николай (m)	Коля	Коль
Ольга (f)	Оля	Оль
Тамара (f)	Тома	Том
	Томка	Томк
Татьяна (f)	Таня	Тань
	Танюша	Танюш

These short forms can make for almost untranslatable wordplay:

Как-то раз в коридорах Центрального телевидения встретились диктор ЦТ Ангелина Вовк и канцлер ФРГ Хельмут Коль. Произошёл любопытный разговор:
— Как дела, Вовк?
— Да ничего, Коль!

Андрей Кнышев, «Тоже книга»

Normally full Russian names do not form neo-vocative, so we don’t say “Алл”, “Анн”, “Елен”, “Надежд”, “Ольг” etc. Of course, there are exceptions, for example Вера → Вер, Зоя → Зой and Тамара → Тамар. A small number of “family” nouns, viz. мама (mum), папа (dad), тётя (auntie), дядя (uncle), баба (granny), wonderfully combine with proper names to form binary constructions which take neo-vocative as in “дядя Ваня” → “дядь Вань” or “баба Шура” → “баб Шур”.

Fifteen short films

The great thing about short films is that they are, well, short. So even if you watch a not-so-good one, you don’t feel robbed of two hours of your life as it often happens with feature films. And occasionally you watch a masterpiece, which really makes your day (week, month, year).

The XIV festival of short films San Rafael en Corto (SREC) took place from 3 to 9 November 2018 in Teatro Municipal Víctor Jara, Vecindario. Most of the films presented on the festival are made by young Canarian film makers. The winners are determined by public vote. Yesterday, I went to Teatro Guiniguada where the 15 winning films were screened. They ranged from amateurish social dramas to sweet but still amateurish social dramas to comedies to a few very professionally made comedies. My favourites were REM (as in “rapid eye movement”) by Tomás Alejo Wilhelm and absolutely brilliant ( ) (i.e. parentheses; not the best title for a movie, I am afraid, to look it up on internet) by Andrea Zoghbi.

Proyección del palmarés de la XIV edición de SREC

Teatro Guiniguada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Wednesday, 16 January 2019, 20:00

• Harta del silencio by Agustín Domínguez (social drama)
• Too, the Moon by Moisés D. García (social/feminism)
• Para siempre by Marta Fuenar, Raquel Castelló and Elena García (comedy)
• Hasta aquí by Anatael Pérez Hernández (comedy)
• Salto al vacío by María Soto (drama)
• X by Galadriel Alonso and Alejandro Rodríguez (drama)
• ( ) by Andrea Zoghbi (comedy/mockumentary)
• Tecnoamor by Verónica Vargas López and Escuela Infantil y Juvenil de Cine “Secuencia 27” (comedy)
• Felices los 4 by Carlos Alberto Mejías Alonso (comedy)
• Zona de exclusión by Rito José Vega Guillén (drama)
• How Much? by Jessica Marrero Díaz, Carlos Alberto Mejías Alonso and Raquel Besteiro Ruiz (social drama)
• REM by Tomás Alejo Wilhelm (comedy)
• Planazo by Emilio González (comedy)
• Nouvelle Cuisine by Manuel Reyes Halaby (animation/comedy)
• Lo que no se ve by Lamberto Guerra (social drama)

Planet Earth II

a film by Justin Anderson, Ed Charles, Fredi Devas, Chadden Hunter, Emma Napper and Elizabeth White
presented and narrated by David Attenborough

We first saw a bit of this documentary two years ago while staying in Belgium. I think it was sort of Planet Earth II “greatest hits” for we’ve seen sloth a-swimming, widowbirds a-jumping, bears a-dancing, and, of course, a fox snow-diving. Now, during these Christmas/New Year/Reyes Magos holidays, Timur expressed a wish to watch it. And so we watched all six episodes.

I would not call it “a sequel” but rather “an update” to the fantastic Planet Earth. A stunning update, though. We’ve got a DVD, not a Blu-Ray, and we don’t have a 4K TV, but still, the quality of the picture is astounding.

In this series, we’ve noticed, BBC gets too soft on prey animals (at least, where there is a chance of a viewer developing emotional attachment to them) which, naturally, results in predators staying permanently hungry. And, bar the aforementioned dancing scene, not nearly enough bears — or so our teddies thought.