November 2006

He was a man who wrote about the essence of reality, always questioning the nature of reality and what it means to be alive and to be human in the twentieth century - and his work is just as, if not more, relevant now that we have entered the twenty-first century.

Latest casualty in Iraq: Elmo's Dad / 29.11.06

This past weekend our militaristic presence in Iraq exceeded the length of our involvement in all of World War II. Of course, in the case of World War II we were actually fighting something, rather than just stomping around shooting things in the name of some vague ideal.

But the worst is yet to come, because--on December 27--Elmo's dad gets deployed.

Doctor Who - The Runaway Bride / 27.11.06

Preview clip on Youtube right now...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW_Fz1JiopM

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What the fuck have they done to Nipper? / 26.11.06

HMV have a long and happy association with Nipper, the little dog which is the centrepiece of the picture 'His Master's Voice' from which the company name is taken. For many years, HMV had a photo of a real Parson Jack Russell (sweet little dogs; I used to own one), which was great, and which honoured the tradition of Nipper without making him look outdated. This Nipper was very versatile, running all over TV adverts and generally looking cool from whatever angle HMV chose to picture him (except possibly the back view).

Go Faster Stripe are very good indeed / 23.11.06

Following on from John's championing of the excellent Replay, another independent DVD production has come to my easily distracted attention. Now, excuse me while I play with this ball of string for a moment.

Anyway, the company is called Go Faster Stripe and they've come into existence with the purpose to record and release DVDs of stand-up performers who would otherwise be overlooked by the whorish mainstream. What an utterly excellent idea.

Excellent Adverts Part #2726722 / 21.11.06

Beautiful animation, there.

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Unwise things to write Part #1736272 / 19.11.06

Oh dear.

Here is my title sequence for my very own Young Ones episode starring me as Vivian and Mike, and Tom as Neil and Rik. I hope you enjoy it, i tried to make it like the original but better.

You tried to make it like one of the best sitcoms ever produced... but better. Erm, yeah.

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Telewest Customer Service, there / 17.11.06

Thank you for emailing Customer Services Feedback online at Telewest.co.uk. One of our consultants will contact you to confirm receipt of your enquiry within the next 72 hours.

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As if there weren't enough reasons to hate Sony... / 16.11.06

... they've managed to get Lik-Sang shut down.

Well, thanks a fucking bunch.

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Down and Out in the Movie Kingdom / 15.11.06

Cory Doctorow, that infamous SF author, blogging guru, and overall technology person, has written another article for Locus Online - called "The March of the Polygons: How High-Definition Is Bad News for SF Flicks." Instead of restating his points, I will merely point you to the article. So...here you go.

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The Comedy Awards nominations, then... / 14.11.06

Not on until December, but what the hey, let's have a crack at them...

Best TV comedy actor
David Mitchell and Robert Webb - Peep Show (Channel 4)
Ricky Gervais - Extras (BBC Two)
Stephen Merchant - Extras (BBC Two)

Sorry, I'm confused. Why have Mitchell and Webb been nominated as a double act, but Merchant and Gervais separately? Whose bright idea was that? Well, anyway, this should definitely be the Peep Show pair. But it won't.

In Theory: Custom DVDs / 12.11.06

So a few years back I had an idea that I never really bothered to tell anyone...because, well, I didn't know anyone that could do anything about it...and it was just a little fantasy after all...

But doing some very early Christmas browsing I realized that now, more than ever, my years-ago brainstorm of a Custom DVD franchise could really, really take off...what with all the "themed" collections of TV shows for sale now...

RIP Jack Williamson / 12.11.06

Wow. Okay, folks, this is it...a day I honestly never thought would come. Jack Williamson, aka "The Dean of Science Fiction" passed away on Friday, Nov 10th, at the age of 98. The man published his first story - "The Metal Man" - in Amazing Stories in 1928. When his family moved to New Mexico in 1915, they did so by covered wagon. This is a giant of the SF field. He wrote over fifty novels, the most recent of which was published in 2005.

PS3 Japan Launch / 12.11.06

Fucking hell.

7 comments

Alan Moore to appear on the Simpsons / 10.11.06

Yes, you read that correctly.

All I can say is, they'd better not fuck this up.

Doctor Who : The Soundtrack / 10.11.06

Neil Hannon to do Song For Ten.

I'll repeat that : Neil Hannon. To do Song For Ten. Holy flying fuck.

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Venom! Venom! VENOM! / 08.11.06

I remember back when the costume for the original Spider-Man movie was unveiled. Amid the excitement at how freakin' awesome it looked, there was no small level of surprise that they'd managed to keep the thing so damned faithful to the comics, when many of us feared that we'd get some horrible, Hollywood-ised monstrosity (the fact that that came later, in the shape of the Green Goblin, was beside the point...).

Under Torch Wood / 07.11.06

Wonderful!

Under Torch Wood - A Parody for Voices

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First Look At 28 Weeks Later / 06.11.06

"This is a shit idea. You know why? Because it's really obviously a shit idea."

Russell, please just shut up now. / 03.11.06

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22877-2407543.html

Blimey, I don't know where to begin with this. I've happily defended Russell Davies in the past - I genuinely think he is a good writer, and it was his enthusiasm which brought Doctor Who back to the mainstream after all - but then he comes out with some total arse like this, and it makes me wonder why I bother.

vomits everywhere / 02.11.06

I'm currently watching Remembrance of the Daleks, the 25th Anniversary Who serial. I've just watched Part One, and it's pretty great stuff so far. The Doctor and Ace have a really good dynamic, and it's got Michael Sheard in it. (Oh, and DALEKS COULDN'T CLIMB STAIRS UNTIL RUSSELL T DAVIS MADE IT SO, HE DID, IT'S TRUE.)

For Bison...it was Tuesday / 02.11.06

Everyone remembers Street Fighter: The Movie, right? It was a terrible film based on an excellent videogame, and it starred Raul Julia, Jean Claude Van Dam, and Kylie Minogue. I personally thought that the movie said pretty much everything that needed to be said about Street Fighter in a narrative sense, but apparently others don't feel the same.