I simply don't get UKTV gold - there I was all geared up to watch 'Planet of the Daleks' - which was supposed to follow on from 'frontier in space' which UKTV had shown at 3am earlier... but instead they leapt ahead a whole season (and six stories) to show the long and relentlessly dreary 'Monster of Peladon'.
Grrrr. I wanted some classic Dalek action. I feel cheated. Obviously UKTV gold just pull any old thing off the shelf. They ain't got no respect. The Barstarrrds.
Doctor Who
In watching past episodes of classic Doctor Who I’ve long realised that there’s something I miss about this current incarnation. I really miss the fantastical costumes. I lament the loss of the ‘future fashions’. Yes, I know they now look very silly to modern eyes. But I think it says something about the times we’re living through (a period I dub - the ‘Beige Decade‘ where insipid blandness is being seen as supreme ‘good taste‘) that one of the most supposedly imaginative fantasy shows on TV at the moment can only envision people of the far-flung future and living on distant planets as wearing modern day business suits.
I find that profoundly depressing - I can’t help feeling that it’s as if collectively we’ve given up on the future. That we only cope with what’s going on around us now and are much too happy to wallow in the imagined glory days of the past. (Just think of the plague of reality shows and period dramas - which has been infesting mainstream airtime for so long now.)
I can only hope this is just a temporary blip restricted to this generation and will pass soon and once more people will be dreaming up impossible futures and outrageous clothing again.
Doctor battles Daleks in New York.
*Puts geek hat on*
Aaaah, this wouldn't be the first time Daleks have been in New York - in Hartnell's 'The Chase' they had a quick stop-over on the observation tower on The Empire State Building.
*Puts geek hat on*
Aaaah, this wouldn't be the first time Daleks have been in New York - in Hartnell's 'The Chase' they had a quick stop-over on the observation tower on The Empire State Building.
The Bush Era Draws to a Close.
I ought to do a follow up for the British side of this. One of the things that has really rankled my cage has been Blair's wholesale blind (and rather idiotic) support of Bush and everything he's done.
Just off the top of my head there was the attack on the BBC for telling what we all now know to be the indisputable truth that there were never any WMD in Iraq. So much for the Government's respect for the independence of the press. But I guess that went out of the window when Blair had to learn to kow-tow to Rupert Murdoch in order to get the public support he needed to win the Election in the first place...
...and on that note why is Bush STILL prattling on about his 'war on terror'? (when he first trotted out that phrase all those years years ago - I winced and cringed. How you possibly have 'a war on terror' it is complete and utter nonsense.) Mind you, what am I talking about - the man is an idiot and idiots say idiotic things. Duh.
I ought to do a follow up for the British side of this. One of the things that has really rankled my cage has been Blair's wholesale blind (and rather idiotic) support of Bush and everything he's done.
Just off the top of my head there was the attack on the BBC for telling what we all now know to be the indisputable truth that there were never any WMD in Iraq. So much for the Government's respect for the independence of the press. But I guess that went out of the window when Blair had to learn to kow-tow to Rupert Murdoch in order to get the public support he needed to win the Election in the first place...
...and on that note why is Bush STILL prattling on about his 'war on terror'? (when he first trotted out that phrase all those years years ago - I winced and cringed. How you possibly have 'a war on terror' it is complete and utter nonsense.) Mind you, what am I talking about - the man is an idiot and idiots say idiotic things. Duh.
Mmmm. Gotta love that Home of the Brave, Land of the Free. And no doubt our Government is hell bent on copying everything the US does - no matter how bad, or how lame, or how flat-out obviously stupid if the US does it we copy.
Previous 'great' ideas -just off the top of my head:
Leaving things to the 'Free market'. ('Reaganomics') Closing long stay mental hospitals - in favour of 'care in the community'. Student loans replacing grants, top up fees.
Previous 'great' ideas -just off the top of my head:
Leaving things to the 'Free market'. ('Reaganomics') Closing long stay mental hospitals - in favour of 'care in the community'. Student loans replacing grants, top up fees.
Mmmm - I keep meaning to do a list of all the 'queer goings on' in Doctor Who since RTD took over (although there are pre-existing links back in the days when Nathan Turner was at the helm too... but that might take more work.) Then this odd little side note appeared to me. Here's Craig Kelly -who was one of the main actors in the UK 'Queer as Folk' (written by RTD remember) talking about being in an animated webcast (in between those long dark years when there was no Doctor Who TV shows being made - stupid BBC) talking about being in this animation, and about playing a Doctor Who obsessed character in QAF - and also about asking advice about Doctor Who from Russell T. Davis.
It's all a bit ...um.... meta.
Now to round the circle off a bit more he needs to be given a role in the new series - and/or Torchwood. Maybe he could revive his QAF character and have a little fling with Captain Jack... that would be cool.
It's all a bit ...um.... meta.
Now to round the circle off a bit more he needs to be given a role in the new series - and/or Torchwood. Maybe he could revive his QAF character and have a little fling with Captain Jack... that would be cool.
Oh hum. The iPod vs Zune battle drags on.
The Youtube video.
But all that fuss over being able to share music via wifi with your other Zune-owning friends. (Are they even available in the UK yet?) Er... if you really want to share music in that way - then don't get an iPod or a Zune. Get one of those new fangled phones that play mpgs and have bluetooth built in -which these days is most of them. Then you can send your tunes to anyone else with a similarly equipped phone. No 3 plays/ 3 days self-destructing there.
D'oh.
The Youtube video.
But all that fuss over being able to share music via wifi with your other Zune-owning friends. (Are they even available in the UK yet?) Er... if you really want to share music in that way - then don't get an iPod or a Zune. Get one of those new fangled phones that play mpgs and have bluetooth built in -which these days is most of them. Then you can send your tunes to anyone else with a similarly equipped phone. No 3 plays/ 3 days self-destructing there.
D'oh.
Oh this is weird and kind of cool -in a way.
I fed one of the lines I got from one of the innumerable bounced spams I get everyday
..." But you Americans have it right. So history can help in understanding deception and being skeptical and not rushing to embrace whatever the government tells you"
and that lead me to this...
The Uses of History and the War on Terrorism.
Howard Zinn on The Uses of History and the War on Terrorism.
Howard Zinn.
Yay. Zinn.
I fed one of the lines I got from one of the innumerable bounced spams I get everyday
..." But you Americans have it right. So history can help in understanding deception and being skeptical and not rushing to embrace whatever the government tells you"
and that lead me to this...
The Uses of History and the War on Terrorism.
Howard Zinn on The Uses of History and the War on Terrorism.
Howard Zinn.
Yay. Zinn.
iTunes sales 'collapsing'
Er...
Has it not occurred to anyone that music sales might be collapsing all round because of the sorry state the music scene is in generally? For me there just seems so little 'good' music being produced anymore. Not compared to how it was in the 80s - and it started tailing off throughout the 90s. Everything has become too segmented - too diversified, there are too many categories, and any willingness to experiment musically and be interesting has been lost in the music companies playing it far too safe - (that's when they're not spending all their time and money suing people for imaginary lost sales). Instead we have way too many banal boy and girl bands and er... pop idol.
And as buying DRM music. Forget it. Who's going to buy an iPod (or a Zune) and fill it exclusively with stuff bought from the iStore (or whatever it's called)?
Er...
Has it not occurred to anyone that music sales might be collapsing all round because of the sorry state the music scene is in generally? For me there just seems so little 'good' music being produced anymore. Not compared to how it was in the 80s - and it started tailing off throughout the 90s. Everything has become too segmented - too diversified, there are too many categories, and any willingness to experiment musically and be interesting has been lost in the music companies playing it far too safe - (that's when they're not spending all their time and money suing people for imaginary lost sales). Instead we have way too many banal boy and girl bands and er... pop idol.
And as buying DRM music. Forget it. Who's going to buy an iPod (or a Zune) and fill it exclusively with stuff bought from the iStore (or whatever it's called)?
Oh boo-hoo.
What this article misses out is all the stuff about the actual physical paper - and the huge bundles of unsold papers I've seen being piled together at the Newsagents at the end of every day, or the big heap of unread free local papers that gets pushed into the recycle bin every week. The paper - the ink - the resultant pollution - not to mention the advertising, the junk mail, the pamphlets, the leaflets. I see advertising as a part of that pollution, the toxic by-product of a crazed capitalist-consumerist society careering out of control.
What this article misses out is all the stuff about the actual physical paper - and the huge bundles of unsold papers I've seen being piled together at the Newsagents at the end of every day, or the big heap of unread free local papers that gets pushed into the recycle bin every week. The paper - the ink - the resultant pollution - not to mention the advertising, the junk mail, the pamphlets, the leaflets. I see advertising as a part of that pollution, the toxic by-product of a crazed capitalist-consumerist society careering out of control.
..."But sexuality in general and homosexuality in particular are increasingly becoming concerns of the modern Arab state. Politicians, the police, government officials and much of the press are making homosexuality an “issue”: a way to display nationalist bona fides in the face of an encroaching Western sensibility; to reject a creeping globalization that brings with it what is perceived as the worst of the international market culture; to flash religious credentials and placate growing Islamist power. In recent years, there have been arrests, crackdowns and episodes of torture."...
*sigh*
Y'see. The thing is... it's not even about religion. Not really. That's just an excuse. It's about cruelty. It's about bullying. It's about one group of human beings abusing their power over small groups or individuals. These things are always, but always inherently wrong. It's all part and parcel of that nasty primeval part of human nature which we all should be striving to overcome in the drive towards greater civilisation. Now you might think those who profess to follow a religion - any religion -would more clearly recognise that as what "evil" is. It's notable that instead of that - they actually pander to it, indeed, often encourage it, even sanction it.
That tells me a lot.
So today I bought myself a CAT5e Crossover patch cable - thinking it would be an easy thing to just link my laptop to my beige box 'puter from time to time. Easy thing? Oh no. That's not allowed. I just get a 'limited or no connectivity' message - and trying to puzzle out what I had imagined would be the proverbial piece of piss is in fact a bewildering load of gibberish. IP addresses? what? why? Why can't I just plug it in and the computer go 'oh you've plugged something in - what would you like me to do with this?' Like it does with USB things. Nah.
After trying to wade through all of this: I'm still no wiser.
In the world of computing I've noticed a few things. Techy computery people seem determined to keep things unnecessarily difficult and awkward for no very readily apparent reason. (I suspect a deep seated need to affect revenge upon the world.) Secondly - they can't write an coherent sentence for toffee. Hell, those help pages I've linked to have been translated from German. I haven't a hope in hell. *sigh*
----
Oh and before any Mac Zealot pipes up with their standard (braindead) 'get a mac' reply. The simple fact is macs are way too expensive - I can't afford one not even a mini mac - if you think I need one so desperately. Then either buy me one or just shut up. End of story.
For ages now I’ve had this idea of cataloguing every recurring plot device used in sci-fi and fantasy films and shows. There are a startlingly small number of ideas that keep being endlessly rehashed over and over again and it would be nice to see how they‘re being used. I haven’t done so because - well, it sounds like a lot of hard work and too much for one person to attempt all on their own.
Now erm, back to what actually started me off writing this. If this description of the preview to episode 10 (Combat) of Torchwood is anything to go by… I’m groaning already. Because this sounds all too like a plot idea I’ve seen used too many times already*. Two just off the top of my head:
1. Star Trek: Voyager. Tsunkatse
Seven gets kidnapped and forced to fight for her life (and a critically ill Tuvok) in a evil fight contest.
2. Angel: The Ring.
Angel gets forced to compete in an illegal fight club made up of kidnapped demons.
The plot goes like this a group of baddies kidnap fierce aggressive aliens/demons/monsters and force them to fight in a ring. Usually to the death. Always for betting.
I’ve already had a little moan about Torchwood nicking a few too many hackneyed clichés… so if this does turn out to be what I think it is -then I am just going to be soooooo disappointed.
[*I've just noticed it's been written by Noel (Mickey) Clarke. Um. I'm not sure about him as a writer. And I'll certainly never forgive him for misusing and misunderstanding the new word 'Kidult' for his ropey film.]
Now erm, back to what actually started me off writing this. If this description of the preview to episode 10 (Combat) of Torchwood is anything to go by… I’m groaning already. Because this sounds all too like a plot idea I’ve seen used too many times already*. Two just off the top of my head:
1. Star Trek: Voyager. Tsunkatse
Seven gets kidnapped and forced to fight for her life (and a critically ill Tuvok) in a evil fight contest.
2. Angel: The Ring.
Angel gets forced to compete in an illegal fight club made up of kidnapped demons.
The plot goes like this a group of baddies kidnap fierce aggressive aliens/demons/monsters and force them to fight in a ring. Usually to the death. Always for betting.
I’ve already had a little moan about Torchwood nicking a few too many hackneyed clichés… so if this does turn out to be what I think it is -then I am just going to be soooooo disappointed.
[*I've just noticed it's been written by Noel (Mickey) Clarke. Um. I'm not sure about him as a writer. And I'll certainly never forgive him for misusing and misunderstanding the new word 'Kidult' for his ropey film.]
Why We Worry About The Things We Shouldn't... ...And Ignore The Things We Should
I must be immune to the scaremongering. I've never bothered much about Avian flu - reasoning that more people are killed crossing the road every week than have died of the flu so far. (Yet there's no call to ban cars - when maybe there should be. They're definitely part of the problem of global warming and pollution after all.) I also know that more people die of plain ordinary flu every year. Yet the newspapers for the past year or two have have been full to the brim of this oncoming 'threat'. Mmmmm, OK.
This weird mindset could also be seen when we had all those ridiculous over the top (in)security measures UK airports put everybody through AFTER an incredibly weird imaginary terrorist plot had been uncovered this summer.
So, it can all be put down to this primitive part of the brain -the amygdala can it? It figures.
But jeez, when is the human race going to start growing up properly? There's obviously a long, long way to go yet. I can't help thinking the human race might not live that long - it seems determined to die out through sheer stupidity let alone all these 'threats' -while being happy to ignore all the real long-term problems which we should be dealing with.
*sighs*
russell davies: meeting in a pinhole
This is one of the things I love about photography. That it's able to capture things never normally seen - whether it's something that happens so quickly the human eye can never hope to see it - or as in this case something that's captured over such a long length of time. It helps to change how we perceive the world, and in theory help stop us take things for granted.
Read more at A pin hole Polaroid camera capturing meetings.
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