July 2006
"It's like a later Tom and Jerry, when the two of them could talk" / 27.07.06
The best music video ever made, there.
I'd completely forgotten about that vid, having only seen it once or twice at the time (it wasn't a massive hit, despite being one of the best songs Jarvis has ever written), until I followed a link on Pitchfork just now. Marvellous.
(well, maybe not the best, as it's no Buddy Holly, for one thing. Still bloody fantastic, though.)
Against the Day: 900 pages of new Pynchon / 25.07.06
A more definite followup to the very enticing news Phillip Alderman posted last week.
A coworker of mine happened across this news item online. That's actually a bit of a cheat, because she found it on Earthlink and I'm linking to CNN, but an item regarding Pynchon novels sort of deserves to be convoluted at least a little.
Alan's Fact of the Day / 23.07.06
Investing a few hours in "assembling" the soundtrack to I'm Alan Partridge is a few hours well spent.
Where else are you going to hear "Music For Chameleons," "Bright Eyes," "Gaudete" and the theme from Return of the Saint in such close quarters? Oh, and I've now decided "Wuthering Heights" by Kate Bush is lovely stuff.
Of course the cheese factor is intense, but that only increases the fun. The soundtrack to Alan's various life crises is toe-tappingly tragic.
Ninja... no, Hero... no, Ninja... / 21.07.06
Looks like an interesting mix of the light-heartedness of the cartoon/Archie comics/movies, and the earnest, serious ninja-ness of the Mirage comics/recent TV series (and hopefully with no elements of The New Mutation whatsoever). Animation looks pretty decent, too.
Yay! / 20.07.06
New series of Charlie Brooker's Screen Wipe about to start!
Media Guardian Being Useless Part #286483 / 19.07.06
Quick, before they correct it!
"Mr Fincham has promised to reinvigorate comedy on BBC1. He has reunited Ben Armstrong and Lee Miller, the comic double act last seen on Channel 4 five years ago..."
Ben Armstrong and Lee Miller? Would it hurt, in the interests of decent journalism, to at least get their fucking names right?
One Book / 18.07.06
Here's a question. If you could recommend one book for someone to read - what would it be?
(Yes, I'm attempting to make myself more widely-read.)
A shower of Golden loveliness raining down onto your astonished face / 17.07.06
No, it's not a L&H DVD release. But it's still excellent.
A Screaming Comes Across The Sky / 16.07.06
America's greatest author returns! Or so it seems...
This caught my eye on ILE this morning - what would appear to be a brand new Thomas Pynchon novel, his first since 1997's Mason & Dixon.
Linking to YouTube instead of bothering to write proper articles / 16.07.06
This and this are currently my favourite adverts of all time.
Disclaimer: I spend far more of my time emulating the SNES than I do the Genesis/Megadrive.
Faulty? What's wrong with him? / 16.07.06
There's an interesting thread on the Doctor Who Restoration Team Forum at the moment - which has turned into a discussion about appalling cover art. Can anyone beat this supreme example, from the American Fawlty Towers laserdisc release?
Coney Island Rollercoaster / 15.07.06
I can't decide if the new, banjo-fied version of "Eleanor Put Your Boots On" (originally the best song on Franz Ferdinand's You Could Have It So Much Better by a country mile) is completely brilliant or completely awful.
Probably somewhere inbetween, but it really does vex my head, especially when I start to think about whether I'd listen to it, or to the original. Bah.
Apollo 11 Tapes Missing / 14.07.06
The Search for the Apollo 11 SSTV Tapes (PDF, 2MB)
Fucking hell. Long, but well worth reading. Especially for the comparisons between the quality of picture these tapes hold, and the pictures that were actually transmitted at the time by the TV stations.
How the fuck can something like this happen?
Lily Allen - Smile / 14.07.06
I actually quite like this song, despite it being not-my-cup-of-tea-at-all on paper. And I find Lily strangely sexy, despite her dressing like a chav. And I don't even mind that she's Keith Allen's daughter. What's going on?
Tiny TV Boss / 11.07.06
By Adam Buxton. (Also on YouTube.)
Nyah, amusing!
Object Does Buffy / 07.07.06
Remember this article? Well, take a look at this, written by... actually, someone should invent a word meaning "forum acquaintance".
http://objectdoesbuffy.wordpress.com/
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA / 06.07.06
On UK Gold this evening:
Broadcast more than once, I might add.
Doomsday Teaser Trailers Online / 05.07.06
Yes. Also being shown daily on BBC ONE - exactly like Series 1.
Just thought I'd start another story to discuss them, so people who don't want spoilers can keep away...
Annually Retentive / 05.07.06
Spoof panel show with Rob Brydon, premiering on the BBC THREE site. You need to be living in the UK and have Realplayer, though.
Not seen it myself yet, so off for a watch now...
New Companion! / 04.07.06
She, of course, played Adeola in Army of Ghosts (our review of which should be coming this evening), but will be playing a *different* character in Series 3, named Martha Jones. How are they going to account for that then? Whatever happens, she won't be in the Christmas episode, but will presumably be introduced fairly early on in the new series.
Ofcom Fun / 03.07.06
1) How pathetic do you have to be in order to fail to supply compliance recordings of your output? Especially when student radio across the UK manages it perfectly well? Clue: buy a few cheap video recorders from Argos.
