April 2006

Mario Live / 30.04.06

"I like what you've done with your hair, oh yeah" / 29.04.06

Well, after a good few months and many moans I've finally realised that I actually really like The Darkness' second album One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back. Talk about being a slow grower. I honestly can't think of another album that I've gone from pretty much hating to loving before. For this I can only thank Justin Hawkins and Jonathan Ross for prompting me to listen to it again just now.

Moral of the story? Always be prepared to eat your words.

7 comments

OD/G&T/Flange Log Downtime / 29.04.06

Just a quick note to apologise for the amount of downtime for our sister sites, Ganymede & Titan, Observation Dome, and Flange Log at the moment. We're trying to sort out the problem. No idea why we're getting Bad Gateway errors at present.

Note that G&T is currently half-asleep at the moment anyway - me and Ian are taking a bit of time out to concentrate on the redesign. More soon, with any luck - it should be pretty big...

2 comments

Complete Amazem-ant / 28.04.06

Taken from Newsarama:

- Shaun of the Dead co-writer Edgar Wright is adapting Ant-Man. Wright will direct and co-write the film version with Joe Cornish.

Anything new from Edgar Wright is cool, but Joe Cornish too?! Never in a million years would I have expected to see that name next to an Ant-Man film.

Wii Wii / 27.04.06

Wii? Wii?

What the fuck is "Wii"?

Never mind the fact that people have been calling the thing the "Revolution" for however many years... now you have to go and give it the worst name in the history of consoles? Not to mention one that also happens to be the name of a bodily function (and yes, according to the website, you pronounce it to rhyme with "wee")?

For fuck's sake, Nintendo!

13 comments

BBC Programme Catalogue / 26.04.06

OH. MY. GOD.

6 comments

The Creeping Terror / 25.04.06

Another death knell is sounded for early hours TV programming as the Quiz Call channel gets its own weekly slot on Five.

Maturity, there / 24.04.06

Blame this on the fact that my job currently involves Googling the telephone numbers of various academics, lecturers, teachers and professors so that I can ask them questions about free books they've been sent, and the fact that while looking for someone else I recently found a "Dr Chris Eccleston"...

... but I dare someone to phone up one of these people and ask "Is that Doctor Hu...?"

1 comment

Chris Moyles / 23.04.06

Here's a question. Why does nobody like Chris Moyles?

This may sound like a stupid question. He's hugely popular. I could waffle on for ages about the facts, but when it comes down to it: towards the end of last year he had 6.5 million listeners each morning. I would define that as hugely popular.

To qualify, then: what I mean is that, amongst the forums I hang around on, and the people I hang around with: nobody likes him. They don't just not like him very much, or are just apathetic towards him - they really, really, really loathe him. In fact, this was taken to its extreme whilst posting this article. On our backend system, I started an article entitled 'Chris Moyles'. When I came back half an hour later to write it, someone had added "...is a talentless cunt."

So why? I have no idea. Really - no idea at all. Sure, there's a certain laddishness about him that a lot of people don't respond to - but that's no reason to despise him, unless he banged on about killing poofs and beating up women every five minutes - which, incidentally, he doesn't. So I can't see why anyone would react against him for this reason.

But it's more than this. I don't just "not mind" Moyles - I think he's one of the best radio DJs around. And why is this? Because all I can hear when he's broadcasting is someone with a great love of radio. Not particularly a love of music - which is something some DJs bring to their programmes, and is obviously wonderful - but not something that I think is especially needed for a breakfast show. No - he has a love of radio as a medium in a way that I've not heard any other presenter have for ages - indeed, Kenny Everett is the only other person who springs to mind. Now, Chris Moyles clearly isn't as good as Kenny - but then, nobody is. But the way Chris presents his programme just brings me such joy - he revels in the medium, in the same way Kenny did.

"CHOSEN MEN!" / 23.04.06

Fucking, yes!

Tonight, 9:00pm, ITV1 - Sharpe's Challenge 1/2
Tomorrow, 9:00pm, ITV1 - Sharpe's Challenge 2/2

Watch this, everyone!

2 comments

Peter Cadbury (1918 - 2006) / 21.04.06

Peter Cadbury, founder of Westward, died on April 17th. There's an article here, along with his obituary.

Awwwwwwwww / 21.04.06

Read this. Gives you a warm glow all over, doesn't it?

Then read this. And after you've unstuck yourself from your seat, GET SUGGESTING.

5 comments

It's John Barrowman in The Brittas Empire! / 20.04.06

Look!

Stonkingly Good Music News / 20.04.06

Alright, so it will mean nothing to 99.9% of the world's population at large, but the reformation of one of the most staggeringly inventive, beautiful, tuneful and downright wonderful indie pop bands this country has ever produced is really a quite breathtakingly good bit of news.

I met Dan Popplewell on a train last year, I did. Lovely bloke, he was. Wish I could meet him again, and shake him by the hand in fevered excitement and joy at him finally doing the right thing and getting the band back together.

1 comment

Local... a Supernatural Fantasy? / 20.04.06

After having finally discovered Brian Wood's Local (a perennial favourite of fellow NTS writer James) by virtue of my LCS actually having all its first few issues in, and having enjoyed it immensely, I did the usual thing I do when I discover something a little while after everyone else - went back and read some reviews of it.

Mummy WOW! I'm a big kid now / 18.04.06

Here's a question. How many things did you love as a kid, but you don't love now?

For me, I can put my hand on my heart and say - nothing. Indeed, this came up recently in the comments to my Knightmare article - someone who clearly loved the show as a kid wouldn't bother now. I, on the other hand, still see it as one of the best shows ever made - I thought that when I was ten, and I still think it now.

New Bullseye / 17.04.06

Tonight. 10pm. Challenge TV.

That is all.

5 comments

Talking 'bout my M-M-Mull of Kintyre / 16.04.06

I've just seen a trailer for a BBC ONE show called "The McCartneys versus The Fur Trade" or something similar. The McCartneys. This is a programme about Paul McCartney and his wife, and their battles against animal-based clothing. That's Paul McCartney. So, what song did they chose to use on the trailer, for the show about Paul McCartney?

Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who.

It's not as if that bloke in the show has got a huge back catalogue of well known songs, though, is it?

13 comments

He's Alan Partridge... / 16.04.06

Ever wondered what makes Alan Partridge such a significant creation in British comedy? His Royal Highness Sir Philip Reed offers us an analysis of Alan's psyche, and, as Freud said, it's all down to sex.

Ladies and gentlemen: Alan Partridge and the Maturity Paradox in Bravealan.

2 comments

The BBC Homepage Archive / 14.04.06

Good!

0 comments

You useless, cretinous moron / 13.04.06

A Times Online writer attempts to prove the popularity of Doctor Who is symptomatic of our cultural infantilisation in a shockingly badly written comment piece.

I apologise in advance for this. I didn't want my first NTS post to be a whinge, but by crikey, this article has really wound me up.

Shitemare!!!!!!!1111 / 13.04.06

Hmmmm.

"Actually, as I write, I realise that I haven't seen Knightmare for sodding years."

So, why write about it?

My Arse / 07.04.06

Aherne working on new Royle Family "special".

Jonestown / 07.04.06

A word of warning: this post is not for the squeamish. If you're feeling particularly delicate at the moment, don't read the rest of this. Look, I'll even make it easy for you - just don't click on the link below if you want something fun to read. Go and read my Knightmare article instead.