Am I Confused Yet?

Tube Strike Again and Again and Again

2010-12-13T17:13:00.000Z

So today they decided to go on strike because they wouldn't get paid triple their wages and get a day in lieu for working on Boxing Day. Did they not know what they signed up for when they joined? For the past five years I've had to work through the whole of Christmas, only getting Christmas Day off (and we even had to take out one of our holiday allowances for that, until two years ago), because this is the way working shifts works. If we'd gone on strike every time we didn't get everything we wanted from the company, they'd fire our arses and just get in someone else to do our job. Working for the council/state certainly has more benefits than most jobs in the private sector, so it's time they STFU and did the job we're paying them to do.

Yes, I am pissed off now. They've wasted a lot of time and money for a lot of people, businesses and the city itself, and then add insult to injury by suggesting striking during Christmas, and worst of all, during the 2012 Olympics. At some point they need to grow the fuck up.

Are You Looking Forward to These?

2010-10-22T16:31:00.000+01:00

The King's Speech - released in January 2011. I can't wait to see Geoffrey Rush again!

Also, I hear there's a tiny film called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 awaiting release in a few weeks' time.

Haven't been to the cinema since January. Looking forward to HP; it's always been a must-see on the big screen first, then repeated viewing on DVD and nowadays Blu-Ray. I totally missed Iron Man 2, but they've sent the preordered Blu-Ray today, so should bring some necessary viewing during the weekend, methinks!

However, tonight will be spent doing the dishes and trying to install Fallout New Vegas. A couple of weeks ago I spent three hours installing Civ V--it just wouldn't start from the disc no matter how much I tried to lure it with snacks, so I eventually gave up and let it download the whole thing from the Steam servers instead. Bloody waste of time, even now that we've got such a lightning-fast connection (compared to our previous one, that is. Still not quite South Korean standards!)

I'm Appalled!

2010-10-21T21:18:00.001+01:00

This is just not good enough. The infrequent updates to this blog since I joined Facebook and later Twitter is ridiculous. My apologies.

Since last we've moved house, to lovely Ealing from dreadful Stratford (well, it was quickly turning into a hell-hole). I spent all of my savings on the move, and am now spending my time whining about the lack of money. And the cold. Because, friends, I have turned into a Brit. Well, almost. Also, this house is bloody cold all year round. Brilliant if it's scorching outside, but whenever does that actually happen in good ol' Blighty? Well, just about once or twice a year. (I haven't heard of rhetorical questions.)

My job seems insecure; they keep moving people around, others quit and I'm left in the dark as per usual. This started happening just about two seconds after we signed the contract for this place, of course. Fuck you. Anyway, I'm pretending nothing is going on. Alcohol helps. Also, lashes of good telly. We've kept ourselves busy lately (re)watching Fringe, Hornblower, then Sharpe, and next up is a disturbing combination of Eureka, Upstairs, Downstairs (good luck with that before this autumn's revisit to 165 Eaton Place, 35 years after the last series was produced), Dexter and Lie to Me. We'll just have to see.

I think I may have been to the theatre once this year...only I cannot for the life of me remember what that could have been. Maybe it was just a dream.

My plan for tomorrow is to win the top prize in the EuroMillions. Don't know how else I'm going to get any funds.

However, this is merely a bleak, selfish view on things and my life is much better than most others', it's just very annoying that Life is so attached to Money. The Bastard Twins.

In other news, I have been enjoying a lot of brilliant telly and gaming lately, and more is yet to come! Of course Downton Abbey is an important feature on Sundays in this household, although it is being taped for the simple reason that it's on ITV (read: ad breaks) whereas the excellent Single Father (read: David Tennant) is on the Beeb (read: no ad breaks) at the same time. Thank Bob we don't we don't have Sky (can't afford a satellite dish AS WELL), because then we'd have to have a second DVD recorder to tape Thorne on Sky1. Not that it had great reviews, but I quite like David Morrissey. Speaking of which, my old DVD recorder is on the blink (in a "Panasonic-on-the-blink" kind of way, which means it gives out weird error messages now and then but works as it should...most of the time. Sony FTW!), so I have got hold of a few blank DVDs to save the contents of the hard drive. OK, so I got 300. I am very impressed with Total Blank Media; they shipped my DVDs nine minutes after my order was accepted! The most important bit was that they carry Taiyo Yuden DVDs, of course. And yes, I did the "smell test" once I got the discs. Mmmm.

What was I saying? Oh, something about telly shows. Hmm... Right. We're watching 71 Degrees North (a title which should be familiar to Norwegians out there), mostly in order to have a laugh at what we deem to be whiny British celebs trying to survive in minus 40 degrees. HA HA HAAAH! Then again, I've never camped outside in anything below zero (centigrades) myself. #NorwegianGirlGuideFAIL

Well, at least I've managed to pay the gas bill.

You can still cry at my tweets and my new gaming blog (well, it's my main interest, anyway; may as well cave in).

The Eleventh Doctor/Hour

2010-04-04T10:25:00.003+01:00

Dear Steven Moffat,

You wasted my childhood with Press Gang, my teens with Chalk, my twenties with Coupling and now my thirties with Doctor Who, apparently. Will you ever stop making such bloody brilliant stories?

As a fervent believer in everything Tenth Doctor-y (some relation to "Allons-y"), I wasn't even going to watch the fifth series which started yesterday. Matt Smith hadn't exactly made the best first, second or third impression on me. But then Twitter went completely mad for the new episode and the curiosity in me won. The iPlayer had to be loaded, first on the Wii (after a brief stint of Super Mario Kart'ing) and then the remainder on the PS3 (because the fucked-up neighbour started one of his all-night parties again). And I was, literally, at the edge of my seat already after ten minutes. Four minutes in and I had a proper laugh! The heresy!

So, prompted by this very vivid and entertaining dream I had last night where I went to a school reunion and only recognised about half of the people there; the other half slowly morphed into various actors or characters, such as Rik Mayall (having an argument with my dad and trying to seduce me at the same time), James Earl Jones (doing a bit of gardening), someone called Nis Kemp (he had been a Dutch exchange student in our class) and at least five of the previous Doctors (including David Tennant, although he was already there as a guest of mine, going on and on and on about how dry the chicken was--in his defence he had just flown in from Scotland entirely on his own (I believe he actually flew, and not in a plane, either); I decided to do a little bit of soul-searching and Doctor Who-analysing.

I am going to be totally honest here, and say that prior to Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies only meant Queer as Folk to me (and, thus, the person who taught me what "rimming" was; I sort of wish I didn't know), so I wasn't overly enthusiastic when I heard he was writing the reborn Doctor Who. This is also the reason why I never watched Torchwood, advertised as the more adult-oriented, semi-raunchy version of Doctor Who, until the five-parter last year, "Children of Earth". Chris Eccleston was basically a guy I had liked in Our Friends in the North and that episode of the brilliant Cracker where I was also introduced to Robert Carlyle. Billie Piper was just someone who'd made a couple of hits back in the late nineties. Doctor Who itself had been a children's programme institution for forty years. I wasn't exactly sold on the idea. To top it off, Radio Times were featuring the show way too often, so I was satiated even before I had seen a single episode.

When David Tennant took over as the Doctor, I referred to him as "that creepy guy from Secret Smile". I had missed Blackpool. I still wasn't interested. Then Catherine Tate, hot shot of the year, was going to feature in the Christmas special. I thought I'd have a look. It was alright, but I must have drifted off halfway through, as when I rewatched it recently, I couldn't even remember the second half of the episode. I started watching the series properly by series four, when they reintroduced Donna Noble. And I was captivated. I was particularly in love with the episodes "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead". I then watched the specials of 2009. The last episode was so heartbreaking and I didn't even know who half of those people were! Thanks to BBC3, I quickly knew. I watched the repeats starting with season two. I loved "The Girl in the Fireplace", "Gridlock", "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" and "Blink".

Incidentally, most of my favourite episodes were penned by a...Steven Moffat.

Now, let's face it: The Ninth Doctor (Chris Eccleston) was the abrasive rocker Doctor. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) was the soul-searching, pained, heart-broken action man Doctor. The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)? Looks to go back to the roots. He's the absent-minded, curious, eccentric Doctor. I do believe Monsieur Moffat has found his way back to the essence of the original idea.

Oh, and the new TARDIS? Bloody love it! I only wish I was ten again, growing up with THAT playground to gawk and drool at every Saturday tea-time.

David Tennant will still be "my" Doctor, though. As an incurable romantic I love/loathe the whole Rose/Doctor story, even with its horrible Norwegian breaking up the mood for me. Twice. ("Dårlig Ulv Stranden"? REALLY?)

It'll Pass...

2010-03-24T15:06:00.004Z

It has dawned on me that I may as well realise that my "Doctor Who" fascination wasn't really just a fascination with the Doctor as such, but more of a David Tennant thing. Which, of course, is slightly annoying in the sense that he will never "just" be a terrific actor from now on (because I've liked him as an actor since I first noticed him in Secret Smile back in 2005), but "someone a bit more special", even though this obsession will pass in a few months' time (or sooner, depending on how intense the obsession is.)

Then again, my complete inability to throw away stuff has served me well, in that I yesterday found no less than 46 Doctor Who-related RadioTimes in my "collection", including six Doctor Who audiobooks, and today I've found tonnes of old radio shows featuring David Tennant. The trouble is I think he is really funny (and three shows with Catherine Tate filling in for Jonathan Ross may actually kill me, as they're bloody funny and all--I'm actually crying while listening to them), so this may take some time. Then again, last year's two obsessions (Chris Barrie and Reece Shearsmith, respectively) have passed quite smoothly, as well as 2008's big Greg Proops thing (although they'll still have a special place in my heart and may have guest appearances now and then.)

Oh, anyway. Today's big topic has been the budget, and I'm all out of funny comments already. Mainly because it's a bit shit.

Also, I've tried my hand at writing stuff today. Not for the first time, mind. One of these days I'm sure HarperCollins will be knocking on my door. Not that I'll hear them, as I'm sure my neighbour will drown out all sounds with his stereo, as per usual, the little runt.

Lightning and Snow and...Hope?

2010-03-11T10:44:00.003Z

I am talking about Final Fantasy XIII, not some weird weather phenomenon.

So, that game arrived the other day. The day which from now on will be known as The Day Before Corey Haim Died. Or it would've been, if I were a huge fan of his. Which I'm not. Although I do believe that with all these 80s idols dying we may soon have to wave goodbye to that decade and realise we have to ditch the shoulder pads and move on.

But I digress. Now, FFXIII has been on my wishlist for a bit. We started hearing about it in...2006? Perhaps 2007. Although I've only known about the Final Fantasy universe since I got my first ever console as late as 2004, I've become an avid admirer of the series and own most of the titles. Some even in different versions. So I was looking forward to this new thing. I should probably state that I've yet to finish any of the previous games (but I think I'm very close on FFIX), but no matter, as they have nothing to do with each other. I was getting a bit sceptical when people who'd tried the Japanese version (released a few months ago) sounded let down by the whole thing, that "graphics aren't everything" and that it was too linear.

Now that I've tried it myself, my first impression is "Wow! *drool*" about the graphics, and "I can get used to this" about the fighting system. I honestly didn't really notice that for the first time the protagonist/leader is female, because, frankly, these JRPG characters all look the same anyway. She could as well have been the usual adolescent male protagonist. I actually like the start, where it is 99% linear (you do have a couple of chances to decide whether you should go down a certain path to look for treasure or not) and you are gradually introduced to the fighting system, weapon upgrading, levelling up etc. I also absolutely adore games where I have to micromanage everything, so if it continues like this throughout (I'm told that after chapter ten things will change), I may feel robbed of a better experience, but I like to keep an open mind and would give Final Fantasy quite a bit of leeway even on a bad day. We'll see!

However, having got the game halfway through my shift, it means I spend my whole day at work just thinking about the game and going home to play it. Heavy Rain was so disappointingly short (and I really couldn't care less about re-playing it)--I finished it in one sitting, damn it!--that I really would like for this to just last and last and last. Knowing me, it will, as I never finish these games anyway.

Nation at the NT

2010-02-24T09:38:00.003Z

Just a quick post to say I loved Nation at the National Theatre yesterday. If you have some kind of imagination, you should go see it (and you may get some very cheap tickets; ours were five pounds a piece). It is based on a novel by Terry Pratchett, which is a good start in itself. It was funny, dramatic and a bit sad.

We also had a nice meal at Pizza Express before the show (yeah, I know, but we're not exactly rich); we've been there before and the food is nice, but the restaurant itself is very noisy. Still, with a 2-for-1 voucher (I do feel a bit cheap now) it was definitely worth it.

Watching Animal 24/7 and feeling very aggressive towards people (and I use the term loosely) who mistreat animals. I think I'll need to watch a few more episode of classic Doctor Who soon (courtesy of SeeSaw) to get back to my normal self. Have actually watched a lot of Doctor Who lately; mostly the David Tennant episodes, but also some of the older ones. The eps over Christmas were devastating, even for someone who's only seen one whole series previously. I don't envy Matt Smith when he takes over as the eleventh Doctor (or is it, in fact, the 17th Doctor?) over Easter.

Time for a 'Comedians' Review

2009-10-21T13:06:00.003+01:00

I've been to Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith twice so far, and have two more perfomances to see. I first went to the third preview, on the 9th of October, which was a Friday. Let me just say there was a big difference between that performance and the next I went to, which was last Monday. People were drinking on Friday, you see. The Monday audience was...slightly boring. Dead, in places. Not literally, of course--that would have been creepy. Even though there was a slight chance we might all have been dead by the end of the night, as the fire alarm went off at the end of the third act, through which four-minute blaring Matthew Kelly was the complete professional and went on with his semi-monologue without blinking. But I digress.

I didn't notice much difference in the performances, but certainly the audience has a lot to say when it comes to this play. In short, the story is about six budding/hopeful comedians trying out their material in a local Northern worker's club. Before and after this gig we meet them in the classroom where they've been taught and even groomed by The Lancashire Lad (played by the aforementioned Matthew Kelly) in the evenings. They all have different acts, but one of them, Gethin Price (played by David Dawson, in a role originated by the brilliant Jonathan Pryce--and I'm sure Dawson's tired of being compared to him, but hey, that's the way the cookie crumbles), is even more different... When it comes to the audience, I actually assume some heckling would be welcome (and I don't just say that because of Keith Allen's utterings during The One Show a couple of weeks back--I've witnessed the difference between a heckled and a heckle-free performance...so to speak). On the Friday there was a rather intoxicated gentleman at the back of the auditorium who got some great replies from the actors on stage (especially Michael Dylan, who plays Mick Connor and is first up on stage during The Gig). There was no such patron on the Monday (at some point I was afraid I was the only one there and only imagined seeing other people around me so as to soften the shock). I feel I should apologise for being part of an audience lacking in the 'oomph' department. It must be said that I had been working flat out for six days at that time and wasn't very animated, myself. Nor bothered. Shame, really. On the inside I was laughing, it has to be said.

The play, written by Trevor Griffiths, was first performed in 1975, and has not been altered in any way (as far as I know) for this run 34 years later. The jokes are contemperary and you may shamefully find yourself laughing at jokes that are both racist, degrading to women and basically testing your tolerance. The worst part is when you discover you quite like the silliest jokes of the lot, where you could see the punchline coming from a mile away. At the same time, this being performed at the theatre and not supposed to be a genuine stand-up act, you may find that you try to humour the actors themselves by laughing at jokes that aren't really funny at all. Or perhaps that's just me?

In order to introduce the lot, there's Mick Connor, already mentioned, who's an Irishman and plays off his heritage. Then there's Sammy Samuels (Simon Kunz), who plays off the fact he's a Jew, and George McBrain (Billy Carter), who comes from Belfast and works on the docks. The two brothers Phil and Ged Murray (Reece Shearsmith and Mark Benton--and I have to admit I keep thinking I would like to see a second series of Catterick when I see them together) are trying out their double act in public for the first time, and teacher's pet Gethin Price has changed his act at the last minute; much to everyone's surprise.

Now, the first time around I wasn't too impressed by David Dawson's portrayal of Price (sorry, David), but then again I had no idea what to expect and merely assumed he was exaggerating everything. The part grew on me, however, and I have a feeling I may do a 270, if not a 360, by the end of my fourth and last visit. My hat's off to him for doing a whole routine without much, if any, feedback from the audience! (Technically, of course, silence is a sort of feedback as well. As long as you know there are people out there watching you and listening to what you're saying.)

I've read the reviews and seen that most give the production a three out of five, but I sense that despite my strong bias (Matthew Kelly, Reece Shearsmith, Mark Benton, Paul Rider and Keith Allen) I would like to give it four out of five. When you get into it and the reasons behind the characters' behaviour, you may feel the same way I do.

One last note; strangely enough (although not too strangely, for those of us who always have a tendency to focus on the "supporting artists" anyway), Paul Rider's caretaker/concert secretary and Kulvinder Ghir's Mr. Patel (and that's no euphemism) threaten to take over the show. All in all a strong cast!

Two silly notes: Matthew Kelly is really tall, and Reece Shearsmith and David Dawson are the only ones who look grumpy and like they really would like to be somewhere else while taking their bows. Personally, I would only look like that because I would be terrified of going on stage in the first place...

The Greg Proops is Fifty

2009-10-03T23:14:00.002+01:00

...so happy birthday! You may celebrate as well, by buying his latest release (which came out on Monday).

Gaming Achievements

2009-09-07T09:34:00.003+01:00

Something weird has happened to me lately. I have actually managed to finish a few games! I have way too many games and way too little time to ever be able to finish them all, the way I play. But within the last few weeks, I have completed three games. OK, so one of them was The Secret of Monkey Island (redux), which I have finished a few times before (the original game is from 1990, after all), but still! Two days ago I completed the original Company of Heroes (I had an inkling it was drawing to an end when my mission turned out to be cutting off the retreating Germans), and yesterday I returned to Fallout 3 after a few months off, only to finish it (very suddenly) within a couple of hours. I had read about the ending being very abrupt, but didn't really see how they could have made it such a big surprise on everyone. Yesterday I understood what they all meant. Luckily, I had already paid for the expansion pack and so could continue after the original ending. Also, the way I play, I was already midway through level 25 by the end of the game, which originally only allowed players to level up to 20 (the expansion pack allows up to level 30). Imagine having wasted enough XP to fill five and a half levels...that's quite a lot of extra skills and perks gone down the drain.

Well, Batman: Arkham Asylum was released last week, and I wasn't the least bit interested until I saw a brief clip of the gameplay on Gamespot and read the amazing reviews it'd had. People were tweeting about it and so I ended up downloading the demo on the PS3. I have to say, the demo is GB 1.4 in size and for that mass it contains very little actual gameplay, but it certainly convinced me I may actually be able to play the game. So I bought it the next day. And it was great. Really. I usually suck at action games, but the way they've implemented stealth in this game, it works so well. The graphics are beautiful, even though I have to admit I don't really see the scenery as I'm in Detective Mode most of the time (which makes the screen go all blue and x-ray-like, with some yellow and red dots here and there). The voice acting is superb, and there are so many extras there you just want to keep playing until sunrise. Yes, I play it only at night (hence why I suddenly finished the two other games; had to play something while waiting for it to go dark outside).

Also, I have to admit it is quite nice to see those achievement tokens popping up on the screen; a medal here, a trophy there... Even though they're more meaningful for boasting to your online gaming friends (of which I have none, as I don't play online), I like taking a glimpse now and then. Some of them have surprised even me; 'how on earth did I manage to get that one?'

Anyhoo, my hair's been cut and I feel like going back to a post-apocalyptic D.C., so Fallout, here I come!

Well, That Was That. Or Was it?

2009-08-27T22:54:00.004+01:00

Indeed. Went to the matinée of La Cage aux Folles today. My last visit. At least that's what I thought, until the end where I just knew I have to see it again. Unfortunately, the ticket system on the ATG website is pretty dire and simply doesn't want my fifty-five pounds, so it can fuck off. Anyhoo, I was very pleased to not notice anything particularly less energetic in their performance today as opposed to any of the...eight evening performances I have seen, which was a BIG plus! Lots of OAPs there, though, so they got more response than usual when The Best of Times came on (read: Sing-along time!)

Just need to utter a Happy Birthday to Reece Shearsmith (according to Wikipedia, which has been known to make up things in the past)--was just looking for info on Catterick when I stumbled upon his page. Yes, I am finally watching Catterick. At first I couldn't understand why I hadn't until now, but then it hit me; it first aired in 2004, when I hadn't quite moved to the UK yet, and then by the time the Scandie channels would have been able to afford importing it, I had moved to the UK and forgotten all about it. So far, two episodes in, it's great fun. And yes, it was brought on by the return of Shooting Stars yesterday. (I am usually very pleased with my Amazon Prime membership...next day delivery FTW!) (Although today they delivered only Catterick, which was dispatched after the two items I ordered the night before...it's the luck of the draw, I guess.)

In other news, I think a Nurofen capsule dissolved in a rather unfortunate manner earlier today due to the lack of readily available water, and my throat is now burning every time I swallow. Nice.

Today I'm Hooked on This

2009-08-25T17:29:00.002+01:00

G.I. Joe PSA - Mimimimimi. Wonderful.

iLean and Cockmunchers

2009-08-22T10:08:00.004+01:00

Yep, I should probably 'kiddieproof' this blog, but I'm rebelling against those US-enforced parental lock thingies. Anarchy in your face!

Quick update on the dream front: The other night I dreamt that Jared Padalecki and Chad Michael Murray had joined forces and were fighting electricity for the benefit of humankind. Please bear in mind I don't watch Supernatural or One Tree Hill and actually had to look up their names to figure out who they were; I guess the power of the TV trail is tremendous!

The following night I dreamt about a new, revolutionary product called iLean. Probably manufactured by Apple. It was a gizmo you wore and which would beam info to the headquarters of iLean (again, presumably to the Apple HQ) every time you leaned on something or someone. You could actually earn up to £7,500 a year on this thing. I woke up feeling rather angry my new-found extra source of income turned out to be imaginary.

In between these dreams we went to the embassy in order to vote in the general election, which takes place in September back in Norway. I tried out a new party this time. Well, a new one for me, but as far as I know, the oldest one in the kingdom. I am worried about the right-wing parties, though, which seem to be getting a stronger grip on the population. There's a lot of hatred there. It's scary to see how they condemn right-wing election results in Austria and Denmark when the exact same thing is happening in their own country.

After having voted we went down to Canary Wharf to take in the view, eat at Jamie Oliver's brand new restaurant and then pay Waitrose a visit. We got home very happy and with lots of chocolate. I then realised I had managed to be in the sun long enough to sport a permanent clown mouth (well, hopefully it'll disappear within a week), and so spent the next two hours on the balcony trying to perfect the silly look by showing only my right profile to the sun. We had fun, anyway, doing our best to remember which British comedy shows we've seen (both before and after we moved here). A rather surprisingly large number of shows, I must say! Anyone remember Chalk? Written by the clever Steven Moffat (Press Gang, Coupling, Jekyll, some Murder Most Horrid and Doctor Who). I watched it because of David Bamber (naturally). He also inadvertently (and not literally) kicked my butt so that I finally noticed (and quickly became a huge fan of) The League of Gentlemen.

Speaking of britcom, I also started watching Peep Show the other day (hence the "cockmunchers" in the title). Fun and embarrassing at the same time. I don't often feel I have to look away because the situation depicted is increasingly excruciating to watch, but with this series it happens frequently. Probably also because it is filmed the way it is, so that it immediately feels more personal. With other shows I can just tell myself 'it isn't happening to me', but these guys are staring right at me, damnit!

Enhance your calm.

Jam & Jerusalem

2009-08-17T15:49:00.004+01:00

Enjoying this series immensely. It's rather mellow, but the characters really draw me in. Yesterday's episode was particularly exciting for a French & Saunders fan, as they were finally enjoying a whole scene together, just the two of them. Also, I have to keep telling myself Dawn French really isn't like Rosie in real life. It just seems so...realistic, somehow. Which I suppose is a compliment to her acting skills. If one is to take my criticisms to heart, of course (certain people shouldn't).

Fave quote from yesterday; between the Vicar (played by Patrick Barlow) and Caroline (one of the posher inhabitants, played by Jennifer Saunders):

- I'm just delivering a leaflet about the recital Veronica is giving next month.
- Oh, Veronica, your singer friend.
- Yes.
- Oh, John will love that, he was very taken with her areolas.
- Really...

To Men on the Tube

2009-08-15T09:32:00.002+01:00

I am getting fed up of you now. This morning, all the seats in my carriage was taken by young and middle-aged men of all creeds, all pretending to be asleep to avoid the scornful looks they were given by the 20+ women having to remain standing. You keep going on and on about how much stronger you are compared to us, so why don't you get your lazy arses out of those seats and stand instead? You also keep moaning about women wanting both male chivalry and equal rights; tell you what: When we DO have equal rights (and that definitely includes getting paid the same amount as men for doing the exact same job), you can sit back down.

In other news, I'm actually not that cross. :-)

Updated Links!

2009-08-14T17:15:00.002+01:00

I've just updated all the links on the right-hand side there. Apparently the BBC are cutting down on their comedy coverage (yes, I don't get it, either), so Wikipedia, here we come!

Anyway, now they should all work. I also added a couple I discovered recently (i.e. within the last year or so). Feel free to sling abuse my way.

Such Nice People!

2009-08-10T23:51:00.001+01:00

The people behind the killing of Baby P have been named. What a history they have.

I'm really losing faith in humanity.

Louis, Louis, Louis...

2009-08-09T22:28:00.004+01:00

Another depressing documentary from Louis Theroux tonight; this time about crystal meth abusers. I wonder what on earth makes people think it's cool to take drugs when we've known for decades how they affect you and the people around you (before people start bashing me; I know the people in that documentary had some 'interesting' personal histories which quite probably played a big part in their addiction). Also, after more than a decade of eye-opening documentaries 'on the edge', I think Mr. Theroux should be awarded a KBE for not bitch-slapping any of his interviewees. In fact, he may be on drugs himself. Valium, most probably.

I think tomorrow's Panorama may be interesting, as may Tuesday's documentary about an autistic guy (on BBC3, I believe).

Yesterday we went to see Billy Elliot - the dancers were good, but damn! It lasted too long. I mean, how on earth did they manage to make that rather straightforward and not-very-fleshy story drag out for nearly three hours? Our seats may have had something to do with it, though; we were in the Grand Circle and quite obviously being punished for not buying tickets sooner. We were really cramped. Literally. I have rather long legs, and they were not happy.

Today, having a day off, I started re-watching The League of Gentlemen, this time with the commentary track on (I am sensing a repeat of what I went through with Red Dwarf--which classic comedy-series-missed-by-me-the-first-time-round comes next, I wonder?) I have started fancying myself as a comedy writer. Yes, you may laugh. Actually, please do.

Well, enough of that nonsense; back to The Last Remnant (game) before watching the last bit of Shaun of the Dead (a film I have seen five times...soon).

Obviously, Today Everything is Rigged

2009-08-06T17:25:00.004+01:00

Twitter. It's been coughing now for hours. My über-funny tweet around lunch time was never published, and the world has suffered a great loss because of that.

The National Lottery. Because all I ever win (with a couple of measly exceptions), if I do, is my stake.

The weather. Because it is suddenly raining and I have no raincoat with me.

I bet you that by the time I get home, the fucking neighbour has turned up his fucking music again and left me with no alternative than to push him off his own balcony. The cunt.

Why bother, really?

Some DVDs Later...

2009-08-05T21:42:00.004+01:00

My favourite quote this month, and it's only just begun:

'Now, if you're anything like me, you can often be found standing in the street, laughing at the severely disabled.' (Rev. Bernice (Reece Shearsmith), The League of Gentlemen Live at Drury Lane)

Considering how my life is quickly spiralling downwards due to the noisy neighbour and his nasty ASBO friends, a constant stream of good comedy is necessary. This has led to an almost overdose of The League of Gentlemen (much like Red Dwarf earlier in the year), but it's definitely worth it. The neighbour should be pleased, as it keeps me away from the kitchen knives.

To Everyone Present at Last Night's La Cage,

2009-08-04T09:30:00.004+01:00

Thank you for making it such a great show. The audience were really getting into it, and the performers clearly fed off of that energy. It was the best performance I have seen to date (it was my 18th La Cage visit overall), and I was thrilled to be part of a standing ovation (with the mandatory bruised hand from all the applauding, of course). More, more! Well, there won't be much more for me, as I only have one ticket left for this run (I am going to avoid Burke/Barrowman--I believe I am way too biased to find any other pairing than Quast/Allam remotely interesting from now on (apart from Quast/Storhøi, but the likelihood of that happening is on par with my becoming an astronaut and colonising another planet all on my own))--this ticket is for a matinée towards the end of the run, so I'm worried they won't all be there etc. Such a let-down that would be (no offense to the rest of the cast; it's just that by the 19th time it's no longer the play I come to see, to be honest), and it's happened before. Oh, well.

I was sitting behind Graham Norton yesterday and had to restrain myself so that I wouldn't poke him in the back and whisper 'now don't you start booing and hissing every time Allam's on' (to the uninitiated: He played Albin/Zaza earlier in the year). He laughed a lot, though, so clearly enjoying the performance, like the rest of us mere mortals.

Oh, and to the poor lady sitting next to me: 1. Sorry for leaning on you (but that's what happens when you don't participate), and 2. when I looked at you just as I got up for the standing ovation, I did NOT glare at you because you didn't get up, only checking I wasn't standing on anyone's bags.

To the nice New Zealanders on the other side of me: Thanks for getting into the spirit of things by the second act so I didn't feel like such a loser for being perhaps a tad too involved, and thanks for immediately joining me during the standing ovation, even though you weren't very mobile.

And to the guy sitting behind me: The girl you came with may have sounded impressed and in awe of everything you said, but the rest of us thought you behaved like a twat with all your pathetic name-dropping. We don't CARE if you're a stage hand at some touring company and may have almost met a few big names.

I think that should have covered everyone sitting around me yesterday. Let's do it again some time.

I did get a surprise later on, though; I had been sure there must have been a contingent of avid Allam fans in the audience (due to some excessive applauding at times), and yet we were basically on our own by the stage door afterwards. Perhaps they had a train to catch. Or some pensioners to mug. As you know, Allam fans are rough. In the same way fans of Chuck Norris are mainly effeminate men.

Hopefully this will be my only post featuring Chuck Norris.

Who's Been a Very Silly Boy, Then?

2009-07-31T14:43:00.004+01:00

Well me, obviously. Apart from the boy part(s).

I had a revelation today, a rather embarrassing, but also relieving one. I figured out why I never saw the funny side of The League of Gentlemen before. Plain easy: I watched the wrong episodes. No wonder I didn't get it; this dark and surreal series should really be watched from the very start (oh, and what a start; the first 20 seconds of the very first episode had me in stitches), simply because there's a thread through the whole thing. Excellent stuff, I think, now that I'm halfway through the second series (and Papa Lazarou, which I used to despise before, has now become my favourite). So please accept my humble apologies, those of you who tried to make me see the light years ago and always wondered why I, of all people, didn't like the show. After all, my sense of humour is perfectly aligned with the League guys'.

Oh, and I cannot get the theme song out of my head.

Anyway; what a difference a day makes--after a whole week of very sporadic pockets of sleep thanks to the bastard next-door, his mum came back yesterday with an immediate quelling of any loud noises, so we could finally sleep the whole night through. I then woke up to find both my missing copies of RadioTimes and The Stage as well as a lovely-looking pay slip in the post (quickly making my credit card company cross because they won't get any more interest out of me for a while). I also had a very entertaining dream which gave me an idea for a book, and since there is at current no noise coming from the neighbouring flat, I will be able to concentrate enough to write for a bit. The only thing left to make this a Perfect Day(TM) is if I were to win the top prize in the Euromillions tonight. But I am probably aiming too high.

Monday, Monday

2009-07-27T17:54:00.000+01:00

Another Monday, another...something or other.

I am currently (almost simultaneously) reading Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, finishing the Titan Quest game and watching D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation. Ah, how I wish I were always on holiday.

But since I believe a synonym for that situation is 'jobseeker', I'm very glad I'm not. Touch wood. Or woof, whatever you please.

Had a haircut today. That's the most exciting thing I've done since I learnt how to use the self checkouts in Sainsbury's on Wednesday last. Oh, and then we went to see Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince (I call it something differently, but for the two people out there who haven't read the books nor seen the film yet, I'll refrain from divulging its title). It is the best film in the series so far. I have to admit that, having read the books several times, it is puzzling they chose to divide the seventh book into two parts whereas the fleshier sixth book remained as one. But hey, I'm not going to go on complaining for weeks, seeing as this instalment had plenty of Snape in it. I feel like repeating this ad nauseam: I did have a thing for Snape back in book one, before even seeing the first film, so it has NOTHING to do with Alan Rickman. Truly. Well, maybe a little bit. I did take a couple of photos of the humongous film poster that's been pasted onto the biggest ad board of the neighbourhood, but never mind that now. By the by, I believe this is the first film where I didn't hang my head in shame because of the protagonists' acting skills. Perhaps I am being unfair? The thing is, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint turned out to be fair actors a few films back, but Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe (just repeating his name in case you've been living under a tiny pebble for the past ten years), still had some way to go. I think we're nearing completion here. He may have been groomed the right way after all. Good thing, too, considering he has started appearing on stage, as well.

But who am I to criticise, right?

Speaking of which, I just preordered the magnificent Psychoville on Blu-Ray. ;-)

It's Monday, and since I have to wait another week until the next visit to see La Cage episode of the Gadget Show, I suppose this nice evening will be filled with such high-quality programmes as Supersizers, The Street and Monday Monday (thanks to magic (and a couple of DVR's) I will be able to watch all three even though they are scheduled to appear in the same time slot). I may have to pay my noisy neighbour a visit, though. I may seem overly fussy, but the thing is, he is making so much noise some neighbours are actually, truly considering moving out. The police are involved, it's that bad. He, in other hand, seems oblivious to the whole thing and tried to flirt with us the other day, in our own doorway. I felt like patting him on the head (he's like five foot two, if that much, and can easily be knocked over by a slight gust of wind, I'm sure), but remained calm. ('Enhance your calm', if you've seen Demolition Man.)

Well, once again this has turned out to be a ranty post full of--let's face it--gibberish/nonsensical stuff. Let's just stop.

Gritz

2009-07-20T15:42:00.003+01:00

Once upon a time, I was a little girl in the midst of a lot of crazy boys who loved gadgets and electronics. Having been the first among the lot to own an Amiga 500, I was accepted rather easily even though I was of the female persuasion. I wasn't kidding myself even then; I knew they were after my games, not my friendship. Still, I had a few close male friends and we hung out all the time.

At some point during our early teens, we became interested in other things related to computers, not just games. This was pretty much pre-internet, so don't say 'porn!' even though we all know that's the whole point of setting up a lot of personal computers in a network. No, we were interested in the demo scene, the programming, the graphics, the music. Actually, I am kidding myself. I still did that to get to the games. One of my closest friends and I started our own group. We were in awe of groups like Cryptoburners, Razor 1911, Anarchy, Crusaders, Absence etc., and had seen a lot of demos and intros that they and hundreds of others had made. I had my own little notebook with the addresses of a lot of them. We were going to blend in, no problem.

Naturally, we needed a cool name. Being quite inept when it came to English still, our best bet was to just make sure there were some X's or Z's thrown in for good measure. So we settled on Gritz as our group name. I honestly did not know what 'grits' meant back then, but we thought it looked cool. Also, it was pretty easy to spell using only straight lines, which was what we would need to do in our AWESOME demos.

My friend went a little overboard with the X-and-Z theory and named himself Azz. We DID know what 'ass' meant. Now, why on Io I called myself Leoban, I will never know.

So we were ready to take over the demo scene. All we needed was some programming skills and artistic talent. Unfortunately I couldn't do much, but at least 'Azz' was pretty good with a pencil (his school books were filled with drawings). Then we got to know 'the Animal' (his real name escapes me), who said he could teach me some coding. We were both very serious. I realised pretty quickly his method of teaching basically involved my learning long routines by heart without knowing what they meant. Luckily I am blessed with a very good memory for that sort of thing, but it meant my coding was, should we say limited?

Back at home the only way I could pick up things from there on, was to fiddle with programs others had made, tedious work involving changing one thing at a time, then assemble/compile and run to see what that had changed. Needless to say, I would never become a world class programmer that way, but let me tell you: I learnt a lot about computers! (I tried my hand at easier programming languages, too, like BASIC and my personal favourite AMOS (in which I even made a short game; great fun)).

Still, around this time I found that it was actually quite a lot of fun experimenting with Soundtracker, Noisetracker and, later, Protracker (and even OctaMED), where I could make horrible music only I liked listening to. I am not delusional; it's quite bad, most of it, but I discovered years later that I wasn't half bad as long as I had the right programs and, most of all, enough RAM and a decent sampler. Besides, even Jean Michel Jarre's first few albums are rather on the ridiculous side (yes, I keep reminding myself of that, so perhaps I am a bit delusional after all).

Gritz eventually fell apart, basically because we had absolutely nothing to show for ourselves, and because we used our meetings mostly to play computer games anyway. I started my own group after a while, which was even more pointless, as it consisted of only one member. Well, I'm lying. It had three members, but they were all me, really. I just thought it looked a bit pathetic if the same person covered all three main functions. Especially considering how bad I was at all three. At least this way the blame could be shared. Outwardly.

To be frank, I suppose that group never dissolved. Following the proper demo scene code, the group had both a 'Dr.' something and a 'Mr.' something. We specialised in making compilation disks (I was heavily addicted to DiskMaster and loved it when I finally figured out how to make my own startup menus), and I always put some new music on top of the text menus to show off my skills...I probably shouldn't have. I also specialised in ruining my own disks with the Saddam virus, but that's a tale for another day.

My Amiga was covered in post-it notes listing all the Protracker commands, and I was very prolific in my music-making; making a tune a day in periods. My parents probably thought I was doing more sinister things upstairs, but all I did was sitting hunched over my computer, fag in hand, hooked up to the stereo where I heard half the tune in one ear and a different half in the other. It was all great fun and it all sounded rather bad. I have always been hung up in rhythms, though, so I usually started out with the bass drum, snares and hi-hats, then built a song from there. If I weren't pleased with the rhythm, I threw the whole thing away. It also made me aware of tempos and most of all I became a fan of breakbeats.

Well, all good things apparently must come to an end, and I cut down on the music-making quite rapidly when I became a proud PC owner in '98. In 2005 my Amiga was discovered, presumed dead, as I was packing my stuff for The Big Move to the UK, and was quietly put to definite sleep by my dad. I didn't want to know. It took about two months before I wanted to find a new one on eBay, so I guess a part of me will always consider the Amiga to be the best part of my youth.

Apologies blah blah

2009-06-15T22:20:00.003+01:00

Sorry for not having updated in a very long while. Reason? Lack of sleep (annoying new neighbour with a powerful stereo and ASBO friends, need I say more?), a very long shift at work (two weeks, basically) and the release of The Sims 3.

When I say I worked for two weeks straight, that is actually a lie, since I worked eight days, had one day off and then worked four. Still, very straining when you don't get any sleep at all due to your fucking neighbour. And one third of that day off was spent at the theatre having a bloody headache. Don't know what it is, but somehow I always manage to get a blinding headache while in the theatre, no matter what I do to prevent it. The play was miraculously fun, though. What am I saying? It was La Cage. You may kill me now. I've seen it...umpteen times. I've actually lost count. 17 times as a minimum (including Oslo). Once more and I've definitely seen PQ as many times as Dennis in that musical.

Pathetic.

Anyway, so The Sims 3 was released. It's as annoying as the previous instalments, to be honest. You just cannot put it away, yet it's a complete waste of your life. Love the new integrated neighbourhood, though; huge improvement. Also the fact you, in effect, decide what they do while at work or in school. Wonder how many expansion packs they'll release, seeing as this incorporates so many of the previous packs already?

Today saw the long-awaited release of Red Dwarf: Back to Earth DVD (well, 'long-awaited' if you're very impatient) and I devoured it all from about 10am to 1pm. Gave up on the easter egg and just launched the DVD in VLC instead because it allows you to look through the DVD title by title (something you should already know if you're a slightly neurotic geek like myself). Finally found it. As per usual, a bit of an anti-climax. Still, the DVD was packed like the rest. Of the DVDs, I mean. Ooh, err!

So that got me back in Chris Barrie mode/mood, which was just as well as I've had really boring dreams about Roger Allam for the past two nights (blame seeing him by the stage door last week--I'm such a wanker (not in the literal sense...well, not when it comes to this, at least :p )).

And I did the most typical thing yesterday. Now, if you don't follow me on Twitter (and you should--not that it's interesting, but that's where I post most of my random thoughts these days), you wouldn't know much about my new neighbour. To cut a long and irritating story short, he's a pothead who's prolly just moved out and wants to party all night. Fair enough, apart from the fact sound carries really well in this building. He's kept me awake most nights for a fortnight. Until you've experienced that yourself, you won't know what sleep deprivation does to you--how desperate it makes you. Let's just say I've fantasised about murdering him with my IKEA knives. No, I don't think I'd actually do that, but I wouldn't have ruled me out straight away if he were discovered in a pool of his own blood in the foreseeable future. ANYWAY. He knocked on our door yesterday. Keep in mind I want to kill him, right? He asks me if I have some oil he could borrow. I, for some reason, inquiry as to the nature of this oil--of the olive kind, perhaps? He nods. I go get the rest of my olive oil and hand it to him. WHY do I do this? Because, most probably, in The Sims 3, my character would have the trait 'Good'. And possibly 'Coward'.

That's it for today. Was supposed to be just an apology, but then I got all riled up from having watched 'Supersizers' from the 80s for no particular reason (other than their opulence and close proximity in time to myself) and felt I had to post something a little more fleshy. Apparently.

Fave song in the charts: 'In the Heat of the Night' (Star Pilots). The PSN Store launched their own 'Vidzone' the other day and that brought back memories...isn't Michael Jackson's 'Remember the Time' as well as Annie Lennox's 'Walking on Broken Glass' just effing brilliant? No? Well, what on Io (Red Dwarf and RIMMER (SO wrong if you've watched a lot of Queer as Folk) are back, dammit!) are you visiting this blog for? We clearly have little in common. Sex, perhaps, but nothing else.

Ush...ers

2009-05-23T14:01:00.003+01:00

Why do we need ushers? Apart from keeping struggling, young actors in employment, of course. The other day, at La Cage again (probably more on that at a later point), I approached one of the said ushers with my ticket, like I normally do. She was being very cheerful and polite, and said 'you're in seat nine, madam, on the third row'. I said thank you and went to find my seat.

OK, so what just happened?

1. I approached the usher. I always do this. I think it's my way of being polite, because I know perfectly well where I'm seated. It's not rocket science. Maybe I feel sorry for them, standing there by the door like wallflowers.
2. I looked confused. WHY? I mean...just WHY? What a ridiculous thing to do. I approach the usher with an apologetic smile, looking like I have just landed on this planet and want my mummy. I show them my ticket, which I have just managed to read about three times within the last minute all on my own, and want some kind of help. Just to be nice. It's like saying 'I'm an idiot and need assistance. See me wee(p) if you don't help RIGHT NOW.'
3. She called me 'madam'. At some point during the first year that I lived over here in the UK, people went from calling me 'miss' to 'madam'. I hadn't done anything differently, I think, but it happened. I want to blame the stress surrounding the move, which after all gave me my first white strands of hair. (Yet at the same time I sometimes still have to show people my ID when buying alcohol.)
4. The usher read my ticket to me. Let me stress that.

She. Just. Read. It. To. Me.

And then I thanked her for stating the obvious. Because, after all, I am a silly customer who has managed to book and pay for the ticket, dress herself, get on the right tube, find the right street and even find the right theatre and entrance, only to fall at the last hurdle, slowly losing sight of the coveted gold medal.

What utter nonsense.

So Eurovision in Oslo 2010? Possibly.

2009-05-17T13:20:00.004+01:00

Yay, we won. Since I'm technically still a Norwegian citizen, due to silly UK laws, I say "we" when speaking about Norway. Unless it's something negative, when it's "they".

Funny bit: Alexander Rybak claiming he won because 'he had a story to tell'. Erm, no. People liked the catchy song. The lyrics were crap!

Extreme tweeting going on yesterday; everyone who'd been dissing Eurovision all week still sat down to watch AND tweet at the same time. It was massive. I would read about 50 updates, send a tweet, then in the meantime about 50-100 new updates had been posted. Let's just say I didn't have the time to read them all. I barely watched the show, only listened to it! Great fun, though. Not such great fun this morning, when I woke up with a furry tongue and a pounding head, wondering what the hell I'd been drinking the night before and why on Io I thought that was a good idea on a work night.

Anyway, I did go to work and am now planning on how to get to the Seamen's Church later on (stop your sniggering!) in order to celebrate Norway's constitutional day with other Londoners. Hipp, hipp, hurra!

PS! If I haven't already mentioned it, you need to watch The Thick of It. I would especially recommend the specials. Excellent stuff. They're so funny, all of them. Guest Roger Allam is brilliant as leader of the opposition. I must have seen the specials four times, and it still makes me laugh out loud. DS.

La Cage Addendums

2009-05-15T15:05:00.006+01:00

It's interesting to see that my reviews completely clashed with another's blog review - just goes to show how different we all are. Still, seems I'm not alone in thinking Allam was excellent, as most professional reviews since the press night have been more or less raving.

Just thought I ought to actually name a few more of the performers. After all, I have been calling the Cagelles just that since 2007, which is very unfair. So here goes, the cast list:

Roger Allam as Bert
Philip Quast as Ernie
Stuart Neal as their son
Alicia Davies as his fiancée
Jason Pennycooke as their maid, even though they hired a butler
Iain Mitchell as M. Ding-Dong
Abigail McKern as Mme. Ding-Dong
Tracie Bennett as the Diva Restaurateur next-door
Adrian der Gregorian as the Masochist
Nicholas Cunningham as the Sadist
Nolan Frederick, Ben Bunce, Gary Murphy, Darren Carnall, Dane Quixall, Ben Deery, Leanne Harwood, Robert Maskell, Duncan Smith, Matt Krzan, Zoë Ann Bown and Scott Spreadbury bring up the rather lovely and enticing rear.

It's a fun family day out! If you have a slightly pervy and/or open-minded family.

Book and stuff here. (I'd recommend booking before stuffing.)

La Cage...Again

2009-05-14T16:38:00.007+01:00

Must be the 15th time or so that I see that show. I need a proper tattoo parlour and a proper account balance so I can get that lovely, little tattoo showing my love for La Cage aux Folles that I've been dreaming of for years. It's massive.

Anyway. Proper review for the May 13 performance. Well, as proper as I can make it.

First things first, I believe Duncan Smith stood in as Tabarro instead of Robert Maskell. Other than that they were all there. Especially the Cagelles, they were very much there. In my opinion they have certainly benefited from the move from the Menier (even though it pains me to admit it, it was actually even better at the Playhouse Theatre, which of course is a good thing, considering the excellent Menier production); they now have more room to play in, and they have grown into the roles to such a degree that they are definitely acting more now (not 'just' dancing--and before anyone hits me over the head; their dancing and acrobatics have always been nothing short of amazing). They've basically become more bitchy, something I find adds to the whole story.

Speaking of dancing, by the way; what on Io happened to Philip Quast since we last saw him? Perhaps the larger stage has done him wonders as well, because I was pleasantly surprised at his moves. Elegant, at times flamboyantly so, I would say. Especially the double back-flip which received a standing ovation. OK, I lie. But I'm certain I'm not dilly-dallying far from the truth if I say I think people would have given him a standing ovation had he done a double back-flip. Followed by a hurried search for a chiropractor in the house. But I digress (should be written on my headstone).

Right, now for the Change of the Decade. Well, the change from Graham Norton and Stephen Pacey to the surprising duo of Roger Allam and Philip Quast, respectively. 'Surprising' mostly from a personal perspective, perhaps, as I never thought I'd be able, nay allowed to see them perform on stage together. After yesterday's performance this will go down as my favourite version of my favourite musical. It couldn't possibly get any better than this, could it? If so, I dare not go see it, as I prefer my heart to be whole and in working order.

Some of us get a little carried away at the theatre, but we're usually calm and collected elsewhere.

This time around the Georges/Albin story seemed more real; I was going to say I believed they were partners, but that would have been a fib (or 'wishful thinking' as some of my slash-loving acquaintances would point out). Of course I didn't. But by Gog, they were so much more compatible than any of the previous pairings I have witnessed.

And here comes the clinch, the whole reason for you to go see the show if you have been the least bit half-on, half-off the fence up till now: They've cast an actor to play Albin. I know how that sounds, but wait for it. You see, the part of Albin is a very emotional one; he's a drama queen, ok, but it's all a façade--he's a vulnerable man who is both overly effeminate and as such should leave no doubt in anyone's mind about his sexuality, and yet so far back into the closet I have a feeling he sometimes has tea with Aslan. All brought on by society, as per usual. (How long have poets, playwrights and even screenwriters been writing about the struggle for freedom from the firm grasp of society? Digression again, sorry.) So the role of Albin cannot--well, shouldn't--be filled by someone who is just one thing, someone who cannot cope with both the out-and-out flamboyancy and the defencelessness which, after all, are two extremes switched between at increasingly fast intervals during the play. I was swept away by Allam's acting and for the first time, in 15 performances, felt that Albin really was Jean-Michel's maman.

(Of course, this means that I am dissing Dennis Storhøi. I may have to lie down and die. At least repent.)

If anyone thinks I'm saying Philip Quast isn't an actor, they should probably read the whole thing again and pay attention this time. I'm probably saying that everyone who's played Albin so far hasn't been an actor, so bring on the insults; I don't care. (I think it's been known for a while that I wasn't a fan Douglas Hodge's interpretation...)

Now then, now then, now then. For the slightly more personal and short review:

It's brilliant! Buy tickets now or lose out on something spectacular! Truly! This cast should be there all through summer (please consider holidays, days off sick etc.--annoying, I know, but it turns out they're actually...shh, don't tell anyone...real people! Who'd've thunk?), until Aug 26, but don't hold me responsible if they're not. Write to your local MP instead. I want you all to be more politically active.

And fabulous hair! PQ no longer looks like my uncle. He now looks like a Clubland version of my uncle. Urgh. Oh yeah, and I caught one of the roses and ~~stole it~~ thought 'finders keepers'. Currently starting to collect dust with all my other theatre memorabilia. I have tickets for two more performances (so far) because I thought 'hey, I think this may be the best version ever and I have a Mastercard!' Hopefully I won't try and beat my ten performances in five months record from Oslo 2004...that'll be a bit expensive (and stalkerish). Not to mention pathetic--I have to keep chanting 'it's just a play, it's just a play'.

Well, I hear there's a Eurovision Song Contest semi final I have to cast my vote in tonight, so got to go!

The Ingaroo Book Club Recommends...

2009-05-10T17:59:00.002+01:00

...The Tent, the Bucket and Me by Emma Kennedy. A tale about her 'family's disastrous attempts to go camping in the 70s'. Very funny, very enjoyable and very familiar! Although perhaps our camping trips were slightly more successful.

I'm not alone!

2009-05-05T13:35:00.002+01:00

Waiting for a delivery?

Apparently, I am 12.

2009-05-05T10:36:00.005+01:00

Had another weird dream last night, just remembered it and cringed a little bit.

I was backstage at the theatre where they are currently performing La Cage aux Folles. It was the opening night for Roger Allam and Philip Quast; very topical in other words, as that actually happened yesterday evening. There were a lot of giggly fangirls there (I think this was brought on by having seen lots of giggly fangirls (and -boys) at the Comedy Store on Sunday; Allam/Quast don't usually have giggly fans); most of whom were about 18-20 years of age. I sat down in the corner, where the fan club president and vice president were sitting. To my knowledge, neither have an official fan club. Anyway, I thought I was safe there; I would just sit and watch for a bit and then go home, as I didn't have a ticket. The theatre was built in such a way that there was a huge panorama window facing the auditorium, so basically anyone could see the show for free, if they didn't mind being about three storeys higher than the stage.

Apparently, the two guys had agreed with the fan club that they'd stop by before the show, so they approached our little corner. Since I was sitting there, I guess they thought they should humour me as well. I was, however, trying to ignore them by reading my book. Allam would have none of that, however. He stood before me and stared at me until I put the book away, then sneered a 'and which year are you in?' I was perplexed. I tried to explain that in fact I was 31 and couldn't possibly be taken for anything below 25, but he insisted I was a pupil and should be treated as such. Quast took one look at me and then ignored me completely. Evidently, they both loathed me and I felt belittled in my own dream, so quickly left.

I am guessing this is my way of telling myself something I'm already aware of; that I'm afraid of seeming desperately stalky, but then apart from the occasional 'ok, it's slightly freakish that you turn up for a charity gig way beyond your price range' I'm not actually stalkerish in any way. Hmm...I think. Unless they're extremely wary of having people go see their show twice in as many months. Oh deary me. In that case, it's their problem. ;-)

The dream was fun, though. I mean, I've never thought of any of them as being complete bastards towards their fans (rather the opposite), so clearly this was just a figment of my imagination gone haywire.

Great Scott!

2009-05-04T18:01:00.006+01:00

I just watched Blithe Spirit, wondering why that 'eccentric medium' looked so familiar. Margaret Rutherford. Miss Marple and a lot of great character in a string of Ealing comedies. Duh.

I've also watched Brubaker and Godzilla today. Had a backlog of films I had to watch, you see. Yesterday it was The Blues Brothers (yawn; third time still not very funny or interesting) and Ice Age 2.

Also went to the Comedy Store yesterday; the crowd wasn't very enthusiastic, it seemed, so we were giving the performers a difficult time, but they handled it well and the second part, as always, was very enjoyable indeed. Richard Vranch's Swedish was so horribly Russian we were quite annoyed, but Lee Simpson, Andy Smart and Greg Proops made up for it. Neil Mullarkey was incredibly funny as the slightly miffed (read: blood-thirstily vengeful) gardener in their gothic horror musical "The Smallest Fish on Earth", and Stephen Frost was very good at guessing his job as "the guy who cleans the inside of the Tardis using the rigging of ships inside bottles every Monday, at Ladbrokes in Egypt, wearing only pants". All in all a great night out. Even though we spent the first two and a half hours of waiting for the show to start, bitching about how annoying the queueing system at the Comedy Store is. It basically prevents us from bothering going to see other shows there. I actually have other things to do than standing in line.

Things change as soon as Greg's in town, though. ;-)

Well, I've been itching to play Crysis all weekend, but have been preoccupied with reading The Book Thief. Two-thirds through it I think I'll give it a miss today.

Break a leg for the New Boys in Town* tonight. Will be seeing them next week, fingers crossed!

*) Roger Allam and Philip Quast taking over in La Cage aux Folles.

Sudden Burst of Energy!

2009-05-01T12:01:00.004+01:00

I had this surge of energy flowing through my body just now; brought on by an instant of feeling elated and euphoric, really. I love those moments. Too bad they don't last very long, but it does help creating inspiration for the remainder of the day, I find.

Well, it may seem like I'm lapping up anything that's posted on Twitter, but there are a few things I have to share now and then because I agree with them or feel the same way. Today it's Robert Llewellyn's musings on Twitter itself - he's had some (and I say some) bad feedback when plugging his excellent online show Carpool on Twitter, but hey, a good thing cannot be repeated too often, can it? (Well, to be honest, it can, but I don't think Llewellyn's overstepped that mark - there are way more annoying tweeters on my list that I still follow, so it's just a matter of patience and the ability to ignore certain tweets and re-tweets, I guess. Also, I am biased, since I like the show so much.)

In other news, yesterday's celebration of Queen Beatrix didn't pan out very well for a handful of people; sad to see that the one time one of my favourite countries is in the news, it's because of some tragic event. Apparently the driver died earlier this morning.

Also, I think eating noodles in the office should be punishable by death. Or at least banned. Every bloody day someone (usually several people) in this office eats stinky noodles, with all the slurping that brings. I mean, for gog's sake, how difficult could it be to go somewhere else for those 15 minutes? And why the hell do they need to eat no less than three meals each during office hours? At different times, of course, so that we're basically listening to slurping all day long.

Updated Film Collection!

2009-04-30T20:46:00.002+01:00

Just updated my film collection. 1270 films by now. A few more awaiting 'approval'.

There's No John Barrowman Here

2009-04-29T15:15:00.004+01:00

I should apologise for leading some of you astray yesterday with my highly uninteresting dream about John Barrowman. Apparently the post turned up in so many searches the trackers could hardly keep up. So if you're here for a second, wasted time in as many days; I apologise for luring you in once more. There's still nothing to see here.

Listening to some Erik Satie again; very relaxing indeed! Just watched the Drinking with the girls documentary from BBC3 or 4 last week, and although it was fun, it was also a bit disturbing in a way, and I needed to relax. So what better way, when you don't have any alcohol? ;-)

Ooh, and Depeche Mode were on Jools yesterday. I missed/ignored it, so had to download the programme today. Jools Holland is pretty crap at interviewing, but presents us with a nice and varied array of musical guests.

New business idea: Tweeting for a living! Seems a lot of people are already doing that, actually. Or someone should have a word with their bosses...

By the by, remember Carpool with Robert Llewellyn! Lots of fun to be had. He just said he would plug the show only once a day from now on, so obviously he needs all the publicity he can get! ;-) Look out for Carpool episodes from the US in the coming months, too.

About Last Night...

2009-04-28T15:03:00.006+01:00

Right. I had another two-part dream last night. First off was my CIA initiation test. I didn't know it at the time, but the CIA had sent two retired agents (as in 'retired about 20 years ago') to follow me around as I went elk and/or grouse hunting with Victoria Beckham (I never EVER thought I'd ever mention that name on my blog), from here on in simply called Posh. She wasn't too keen on going hunting (and neither should I have been, as I reckon hunting as a sport is vile), so I guess it was just as well that the Jeep I had borrowed from Chris Barrie (I watched him driving around in a military Jeep on Massive Speed before going to bed) had just about 400 different locks; it took me so long to get into the car it had gone dark by the time I was sat behind the wheel. Posh told me not to worry, as she had a magical bottle which was "simply amazing". You see, when you filled it with water, and here was the clever part, it magically became full of water. She was grinning so proudly I didn't have the heart to tell her she was being incredibly stupid and should go away and rot somewhere.

Anyway, after our rather failed hunting trip, I never really figured out whether I'd got the CIA job as a freelance agent, as I was whisked off to ITV to watch another Parky chat show as a member of the audience. Memory lapse there, clearly, as he had his last chat show some time ago, but hey ho. There I witnessed real magic, as Philip Quast was one of the interviewees, and John Barrowman another. They were reminiscing back to the eighties (don't know why, as they didn't work together until The Fix in the mid-to-late nineties), and then Parky started reminiscing about the sixties, getting a blank stare from everybody, before John leapt into PQ's lap and started singing very, VERY loudly. It was all slightly horrible and cringing to watch, and even more cringing when I woke up and realised it all came from my mind.

I am, clearly, looking forward to La Cage, though. Again. This time with added Roger Allam, currently seen in Ashes to Ashes (yesterday seen a bit too much, perhaps, in that series? I leave it up to personal taste and inclination to decide, hehe!), and I believe he is appearing in another series in a bit; don't quite remember what it was, but something fantasy- or sci-fi-themed, I seem to remember. Big project. Prolly the Beeb. Ah, who cares, something or other I'm bound to watch, at least.

I still cannot believe I missed Allam in Privates on Parade - only one of my favourite musicals. Grrr.

Twitter-Paranoia, a Definition

2009-04-26T16:35:00.002+01:00

After two and a half weeks of tweeting (wow, has it really been that long already?), I have happened upon quite a few different personalities. By all means not (yet) being an expert on the twitterverse, I have, however, made a few observations.

One of these is the paranoia which happens to people when they keep tweeting with, or rather to celebrities and then never get a reply. There is an increasing desperation in their tweets, thinking they're not funny enough to be noticed, failing to see that these celebs actually have thousands, if not tens of thousands of followers and simply cannot possible reply to each and every one. So they choose the funniest, and...oh, right. I guess they're right in being paranoid, then.

President Michael Palin (Well, Still Better than Sarah!)

2009-04-25T10:09:00.005+01:00

Last night I dreamt that I encountered Daniel Hill in Berkeley Square Gardens and simply had to ask for his autograph. I have always felt as if I'm his only fan, and so, apparently, does my subconscious, as he proceeded to grin very broadly when I asked him and then went on to quote a whole poem on this piece of paper before finally signing it (in a very childish handwriting, I might add). I then went to the nearby Jaguar shop to buy a car.

In part two of this dream, Michael Palin (no need for a link there, I should hope!) had become president of the UK, and made everyone stop what they were doing at 8.30 in the morning to salute his image and chant something preposterous which included the words 'hail' and 'supreme being'. I was shocked (and no, there is no way my subconscious thinks Palin is anywhere close to that characterisation). It then turned out that he had also ordered every child (up to the age of 40, apparently) to be sent to orphanages spread across each city. I was deemed too important for being imprisoned, though, as I was an excellent diver (never dived in my life) and there was a serious threat from a band of sea monsters we had to deal with. I was given the command of the national diving team (bit of narcissism shining through there, ahem...), and we went on our dangerous mission via a local pool where there were several people with their kids (strangely enough, seeing as they should all have been locked up). One of those was Bill Paxton (I was watching Frailty yesterday) with his borrowed two-year-old, who morphed into Ed Harris (probably because I think Paxton is a nice guy) and threw an absolute fit when he thought I was too slow to move out of the way as they were leaving. We finally got into the pool and started descending into the water, as I awoke. My bet is that we got rid of the monsters and saved the world.

In the spirit of the Red Dwarf guys recording commentaries on Back to Earth today, I am going to watch Back to Reality (S5E6) with commentaries now.

OMG, Twittermania!

2009-04-19T15:11:00.004+01:00

People basically don't have anything better to do than wasting time on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn and other such sites, apparently.

Jonathan Ross tweeted a picture of his lunch. Using TweetDeck I get updates every minute, and this one was clearly sent only seconds before my program checked for any new items. I clicked on the photo. I was the 4th viewer. I reloaded. It now had 27 views. I got a call, which took about three minutes to solve. The picture now had more than 1,100 views.

And yesterday everyone seemed to be commenting only upon Britain's Got Talent. Actually, the celebs were worse than the "mere mortals", who actually seemed to get out of the house for the evening; the well-knowns were cheerfully tweeting about every single act whereas the unknowns remained fairly quiet or actually managed to tweet about other stuff. Like being drunk, listening to rubbish music and updating their news feed.

It's highly entertaining, though, and the perfect way to surf the web for new stuff! It's like having an army of webcrawlers working for you, so that you can spend your time doing other things until they come up with something worth looking at.

It may draw you in, though. I woke up during the night (due to drinking an orange smoothie right before going to bed) and simply had to tweet about my semi-nightmare (my family stealing all of my Greg Proops cassettes) from my iPhone.

Maaarvellous.

#fragglefriday

2009-04-17T15:54:00.004+01:00

In the spirit of #followfriday, I set myself my own task today via Twitter. I was to write a 500-word-snippet including the random words dapper, hell-bent and Fraggle. Here is the unedited and rather miserable result I threw together during my lunch hour (and for some inexplicable reason, my mind conjured up two names of the Proops persuasion. Ho hum.):

---

As a holy man, Gregory had seen his share of misery among the populace. His congregation, for a start, contained mostly old W.I. members with a penchant for crocheting and harassing the local transvestites (of which there were three: Johnny Long Johns, Mark the Spark and Mullet from the docks). When Marjorie had left the gas on and caused half her street to go up in flames (via a big kablooey), Gregory had had to comfort the old sods who suddenly had nowhere to go and no family who remembered them—or was it the other way round? He could not stand the constant smell of wee inside the church hall and was hell-bent on getting out of that awful job of his before it was too late. Also, he suspected their babbling had rubbed off—he often found himself muttering obscenities under his breath without actually remembering wilfully to have planned it that way.

Today was just another horrid day he had to face. His toast had been soggy due to bad planning—trying out a new, supposedly efficient morning routine, he had thrown a couple of slices into the toaster before hitting the shower, completely forgetting about the little machine’s rather unfortunate habit of projectile-vomiting anything which was put into it, at quite alarming speed. When he came back from the shower, the toasts were to be found in a flower pot on the window-sill and in the cat’s litter tray. He took it as a sign from God and ate them both.

When he arrived at the rectory, however, a worse sign awaited him. Mullet from the docks was leaning against the wrought iron fence, smoking a pipe. It somehow clashed with his purple dress. He did look dapper, though, and Gregory had to focus on the beard to regain control of his senses.

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, reverend, I was wonderin’ if I could have a word?” Mullet’s voice boomed, bouncing off every wall around them. Gregory had never quite understood why Mullet always went for this mock-Irish, pirate-y accent when he came from Dorset, but then again there was quite a lot of things about Mullet that Gregory didn’t grasp.

He unlocked the door and motioned Mullet into the office. He was rough-looking, but had kind eyes. Two of his front teeth were missing. Gregory noted that this was a brand new feature.

“Aye, ye’ve seen me teeth, then?”
“Not really, Mullet. They seem to have gone on holiday.”

Mullet chuckled and slapped his thigh. Gregory was slightly alarmed and decided to leave the door open for now.

“I was only wond’rin’, reverend, ‘bout what ye think ‘bout Fraggles?”

Gregory put on his best holy man show—pensive pout, clasped hands, both index fingers stretched out and touching his lips. He hadn’t a clue what Mullet was on, but he certainly wanted some of it.

“I think you need to fill me in, Mullet.”
“Fraggles, those critters who live underground an’ hunt in packs. They’ve got coloured hair and big...starin’...eyes.” Mullet’s right eye was suddenly experiencing a tic overload. His hand shot up and hit the eye repeatedly. “Aye, starin’, they are. One of ‘em, don’ ask me how, got into the pub las’ night an’ was causin’ a right ruckus in there. I could barely get outta there in one piece!”

Gregory wanted to point out the missing teeth, but decided against it. At the moment, his chief concern was to get Mullet out of his office and some gin into his system.

“So, reverend, ye do those exorcisms, right?”
“I doubt that’ll be necessary.”
“Jus’ a teeny exorcism in the pub, kinda like a nice gesture, so that all of us can drink there in peace.”
“Maybe it’s a sign, Mullet—maybe God wants you to stop drinking?”
“Jeez, no need ta go all religious on me, reverend. Them Fraggles are no critters of God’s work.”
“No, I think you’re right, there, which is why you’d be better off without the drink.”
“One day they’ll come fer ya, reverend, an’ I won’t be helpin’ ye then!”
“How very Christian of you. Well, go with God, Mullet, and close the fucking door behind you, will you?”

---

Pixies! Garden Pixies! Where are My Gnomes?

2009-04-15T18:51:00.004+01:00

Just finished watching Lost in Austen again; fine series. Had a glass of something I'd like to call "Whispering Orgasm" as it sort of lacked a couple of the ingredients for a Screaming Orgasm (the drink), which made the programme even better. Could also recommend watching Red Dwarf Back to Earth slightly sloshed; you're sure to laugh then, even if you only chuckled the first time around. Or perhaps that's just me.

I'm clearly suffering from a Red Dwarf withdrawal syndrome now, so will shut up and instead go play some game or other. Finished Mass Effect yesterday (I actually sat through the whole list of credits, simply because it happens so infrequently that I finish a game - strangely enough the last two games I finished were made by the same company (BioWare) and made in the same vein as this one. I think I may be a closet sci-fi enthusiast).

By the by...I'm a fervent believer in everything Jean Michel Jarresque, but Blade Runner would not have been the same without the music of Vangelis. Hats off! Please leave your trousers on, though. Urgh.

2009-04-14T15:06:00.004+01:00

So, just to make a rather boring, 900th post.

Do guys in general want kids/a family, or do they want to stay prepubescent throughout the rest of their lives, if they were to choose? Which, of course, they're not, as women rule the world, but let's pretend for a minute.

The whole "girls grow up so much faster than boys" theory is so annoying. And who's to say we're supposed to be spreading our genes everywhere anyway (apart from nature as a whole)? I'd much rather human beings just died out, really, but then that's just me (it seems--as most people appear to be happy about the way the world is turning out)? Anyhoo, I've been watching way, WAY too much Red Dwarf lately. I was absolutely chuffed "I'm gonna eat you, little fishy" was included (strangely enough, being absolutely obsessed with Rimmer, this quote from The Cat is my favourite, or simply the easiest to remember/sing--also, there's a strange connection with one of my faves from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life: "Ooooh, fishy, fishy, fishy, FISH! / And it went wherever I did go!) Now that I've seen the whole of Back to Earth without ad breaks etc., I am in love with the piece and wish there would be more. Preferably within the next few years or so.

Excuse me while I eat the rest of my Belgian chocolate and pretend I have nowt to do in order to further my career as a writer.

BTE vs. BR

2009-04-13T22:57:00.005+01:00

I am rewatching Blade Runner and comparing with Red Dwarf: Back to Earth. I can't make up my mind whether BTE is a parody of, an homage to or a blatant rip-off of BR.

And then I realise I don't care! Any which way it's well done (especially on their budget) and it doesn't have Harrison Ford in it, which is always a plus in my book. Yes, anything without that guy in it automatically gains half a star in its rating, unless it's Safe, which is just fucking awful no matter what.

Think I need to go to bed, though. Apparently there's a new dawn tomorrow. Who'd've thunk?

PS! Seems today's Massive Speed (which had just about as many 'wow, that's kewl' moments as the other Massive... programmes) could have been the first episode after all, which would explain why I didn't notice it in RadioTimes last week. Duh!

Oops, Totally Forgot...

2009-04-13T12:39:00.005+01:00

...what I actually planned to do with my money if I ever won a big prize in the lottery. Invest it all in a high-risk venture, get even richer (naturally I was already under the influence of the Luck virus, so anything "high risk" wouldn't be to me), then fund another series of Red Dwarf (yeah, I don't care about the film; no point in destroying the concept with silly Hollywood cameos, although I do understand that this seems to be the ultimate dream for the ones involved), get none of my invested money back, but hopefully get a lot of laughs out of it. Well worth the one-pound ticket!

...then spread the word that everyone else putting in a pound that day had just brought back Red Dwarf (back...for the fourth time?) whether they wanted to or not. Hah!

By the by, re: yesterday's episode: Could the newsagent's scene be more camp? I actually had to hide my face at that point. Brilliantly funny and very embarrassing at the same time. Just the way I like my comedy.

Boys from the Dwarf, innit?

2009-04-13T11:43:00.003+01:00

Yeah, whatever. Back to Earth is over and done with...although not quite. I'm recording all three episodes in a row tonight so that I can edit them and watch them in one go, until the awaited DVD/Blu-Ray release in June. I have lots of thoughts about the episodes and I must have read about 1000 thoughts that other people have; clearly Red Dwarf stirs up a whole lot of emotions in people, one way or another!

So I'm going to edit the thing tonight, which means I won't actually SEE it tonight. I realised this is the first time ever that I got to see Red Dwarf on its first screening; having suffered from the Norwegian Handicap Syndrome (NHS? Hmm...) for years and having to rely on transmissions years after the initial release, this has marred me, yet made me stronger. OK, so I'm talking out of my arse. But the Norwegian Handicap Syndrome has been a problem for someone who became an anglophile at the age of eleven. I used to buy UK mags when I could find and afford them, and kept cuttings and adverts on my bedroom walls during my teens. I had an A4-page ad for some Have I Got News for You video next to my bed for years! (Bear in mind this was pre-Internet. Please. Although I did buy that video many years later on eBay, LOL!) I noticed Armando Iannucci during the summer of 1995, when I was stuck in a hotel room in Hoogeveen, Holland, and had almost fainted when noticing they got BBC1 and BBC2 on terrestrial telly. So I was watching Friday Night Armistice there. Took another eight years or so before I got to see much more of his work, though (The Day Today, by the way; bought the DVD on a whim).

Then again, it took me no less than 19 years to get all of the Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes, which is a complete travesty for someone who used to be so hooked (and bored out of her mind) that she wrote Monty Python quotes all over her jeans when she ran out of space on her pencil-case and desk and arms.

No, I have never, ever been obsessive about anything! How very dare you! ;-)

Speaking of obsessed; I cannot believe I completely missed Five starting showing Massive Speed last week--especially since I was searching for any DVD release of that series last week. How blind is it possible to get? After all, it's important I get to see and buy everything Chris Barrie has ever appeared in before the obsession wears off and I start regretting buying all that crap, LOL! (Been there, done that, with many others, and he's not going to be the last one, I'm sure!) (To my defense, I have mostly bought only the good stuff (as in "series/films they've appeared in", not as in "drugs"))--which means in CJB's case I'm avoiding Back in Business--then again I'm a completist collector, so if I ever win a big prize in the lottery...oy vey! (Luckily for my wallet, again in CJB's case, I already owned Filthy Rich and Catflap, The Young Ones, The New Statesman and Blackadder, being a Rik Mayall fan, after all, and Simon the Sorcerer, being an avid gamer)

Well, the football is on, so I'm going to hide my head in the sand until I can run home from work and prepare for Massive Speed and The Gadget Show. Yay!

Red Dwarf BTE Ep 2 - Short Comment

2009-04-12T17:18:00.004+01:00

Geeky linguistic moment: The two kids on the bus, they're supposed to be siblings, right? Then why on Io do they speak different dialects?

Can hardly wait for tonight's episode, though. More loveliness!

Come on, Let's Buy a Jag!

2009-04-12T15:51:00.003+01:00

Yes, that means you, Chris Barrie. A new one. Or a couple of new ones.

Listening through some songs from 1989, reminiscing about staying in Hastings that summer. I remember Soul II Soul's Back to Life was a big hit that summer, as well as seeing Prince's Batman album everywhere (and in those days vinyl albums were still the norm, so the golden Batman logo was all over the place).

By the by...

2009-04-11T13:08:00.004+01:00

Guess there ARE a few fans among those 5000 households...or they've picked 5000 households who just happen to have many of the same interests! Oh, what to think, what to do?

Red Dwarf BTE Episode 1

2009-04-11T10:12:00.007+01:00

Oh, wow. Visiting the Red Dwarf forum I just have to comment upon last night's first outing of Series VIII.5, as I like to call it.

First of all. People who claim they're fans and then go on about how surprised they were at there not being any 'canned laughter' (a mistake in itself, btw, as Red Dwarf has always had a studio audience or an audience viewing the actual episode, and canned laughter is something entirely different and highly annoying) - if they're such big fans, shouldn't they have read up on the new 'series' a little bit beforehand? We have been informed of the new format time and time again.

Secondly. The adverts came slightly abruptly. The first ad break I actually thought, if only for a split second, 'surely Mitchell and Webb aren't part of the RD crew?'

Thirdly. Yes, it should have been shown in one go...then again they are doing that on Monday, and personally I think it's great that they're spreading this thing across the whole weekend, as that means the end is further away. I'm lousy at goodbyes, you see. I'm still suffering from slight depression brought on by Stoke Me a Clipper from series 7 (which also happens to be my favourite episode, if only by a smidgen compared to whichever episode I deem to be the runner-up (the jury is still out on that one, and probably will be indefinitely, as it's very difficult to choose favourites among such great episodes)).

Fourth. I'm amazed at how little people seem to know about how TV works. Maybe I am being too harsh, and that I just happen to be rather geeky about it. People seem to think that ratings show the actual number of people watching a programme, and that if they get all their mates to watch the show, it will help. It won't. I used to work for TNS and they put these digital boxes in selected homes, give everyone in the household their own code, connect all the PVRs etc. to the system so that every bit of viewing and taping in that particular household is monitored. Not many people therefore create the basis for the viewing figures; figures that will just be extrapolated to form an approximate ratings overview. I think it's silly, really. Let's say none of the UK's selected 5000 households (yes, only 5000 households! Preposterous!) contain a Red Dwarf fan (I know, unbelievable, but possible). The ratings would then be completely off. Unfortunately, in our day and age, we're dominated by ratings (luckily not to the extent the US of A are). In my view this is paving the way for low-quality telly, but then again, seems we're heading for a dumbed-down society as a whole anyway. /rant.

Fifth. Perhaps I should comment upon the contents of the episode itself, but I won't just yet. Just have to mention that yes, I did laugh a few times, and I actually managed to snort and spit a little bit of pizza across the table at the "ferrety face" comment. I still don't know how I did that.

Sixth. Awaiting the next few episodes with glee! Also smegups-o-rama tonight (no doubt I have seen them all before, numerous times, but that's the best bit as you see the actors behind the characters...and is how I became a fan of Barrie-boy (not to be confused with 'batty boy', which is a whole different game of cricket)), and 'making of' tomorrow! Eeexcellent.

Red Dwarf, Here I Come!

2009-04-10T20:25:00.004+01:00

32 minutes until Red Dwarf. Mr. Brown on Carpool today. And I found my easter chocolate! Life just couldn't be better.

The Green Thing with Wheels

2009-04-09T15:03:00.004+01:00

We got to see the Carbug yesterday! I am so psyched. Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn and Wonderboy were there, too. Got to film them for a bit. Grabbed a USB stick off some pretty ladies standing there. Well, I say 'grabbed', and I say 'pretty', but...anyway... The USB stick was pretty cool. Red Dwarf stuff. I may have a new ringtone. I am mostly chuffed about the Jensen Interceptor being mentioned in the new episodes. By Wonderboy. Naturally.

And now I have a Twitter account. Silly me. Follow me here. Not quite sure why you would, though. And Twitter has got to be the least privacy-minded site out there. Apart from any government-related site, of course, since those guys seem to be leaving and showing off top secret documents all over the place. Oh my gog! So, just with a simple click you know my name (well...nearly).

Anyway, photographic evidence:

The carbug.

Wonderboy. Probably wondering why he hasn't got a restraining order on me.

Exercising at Night

2009-04-08T15:12:00.004+01:00

Last night, in between the rainstorms, I had this rather disturbing dream that I had just built this gigantic, three-storey art deco house which I shared with someone who was always afraid the bailiff would come a-knocking. If I could afford such a big house, why have a flatmate who couldn't pay and whom I didn't actually know? The mind boggles. Anyway. One day these two middle-aged men came knocking. When we wouldn't open the door, they broke in and I immediately called the police while staring right at them. They were rather friendly, and so I could calmly let the police know what they looked like etc., all the while making sure they understood they had definitely come to murder us, so they had to send round a car ASAP! The two guys weren't actually there to kill us, it turned out, but rather to kill themselves. One of them had a layer cake with candles and the icing read "I am 70 years from 70 and I am 46 and don't think I want to see 70". It all made sense at the time. He had, in fact, baked a suicide cake. He just couldn't go through with it, though, so he had called some friends to help him out, and they were landing as we spoke. On our roof, in fact, as they were aliens. My new house couldn't quite take the pressure, so we brought the 30+ dachshunds I owned to the second floor (as you do, when the house is collapsing around you), and then suddenly the whole thing was a Stanley Kubrick film and I was looking for a builder called Rickman. The company which had hired this builder had no less than 1500 people called Rickman, so this could take some time. Luckily I was saved by the bear. Sort of. I ran away from the building site in order to go to Denmark and visit a safari park they had installed on one of their islands. They had also installed a whole lot of binoculars you could use to view the animals. I used one of those and spotted lots of ducks and a few bears. And a Japanese cook climbing a tree in search for sushi. He was mauled by one of the bears, and it was all quite horrid. I ran away from there because the bear came after me (even though it was miles away). I eventually jumped across some big rocks and into a bus, which I knew would take me to the real Denmark, because after a few stops he shouted "hey, hey, Denmark!" and threw me off. I ended up next to an upside-down Viking ship which had been turned into a house. The people living there was called Rogersen or something similar. Clearly Norwegian. And with the Norwegians came the snow, so the bear stayed away.

At this point I think I woke up, quite exhausted after all the running, and quite relieved to find that I wasn't in Denmark after all.

I need to go now. Fingers crossed for a wonderful afternoon.

Now THIS is a Good Idea!

2009-04-04T21:54:00.003+01:00

Robert Llewellyn really gets around the circuit, doesn't he? Gotta love him. This is a wonderful idea; interviewing celebs while carpooling and then posting it online.

In other news; I found my copy of Simon the Sorcerer from 1993/1995; never played (by me) but voiced by Chris Barrie, so now I obviously have to play it!

Looking forward to seeing The Boat That Rocked, especially after this week's frequent interviews etc. on morning telly, but no plans as of yet. Also Monsters vs. Aliens (or is it the other way around?) looks like fun.

Let's Hear it for the Grand National!

2009-04-03T21:43:00.004+01:00

Urrrrgh.

In other news, we are slowly working our way through a third (fourth, in some cases) viewing of Green Wing. It's still cringeworthily embarrassing, but very, very funny.

Well, the Carbug has been located, and now I'm just going a bit Mr. Flibble (i.e. becoming very cross), as they're doing something on Wednesday next, while I'm at work. Bastards. They also announced the fifteenth Dimension Jump (Red Dwarf Fan Club convention) today, taking place in Birmingham.

1. I don't want to go to Birmingham.
2. It's expensive and I keep telling myself I'm not that hooked.
3. By October I will probably have got some other focus in my life.

*fingers crossed*

I almost finished my book today (the one I was reading; you didn't think I would ever be able to finish writing one, did you?), but then they (gasp!) wanted me to actually do some work while I was in the office! The nerve! The meeting at Aintree is drawing to a close tomorrow, but not until a few races after the Grand National, so we'll have plenty to do then. I unwind with Not Always Right in between the most stupid emails. I mean, come ON, people! It's like you suddenly become complete morons when you contact customer services! Use your head! Read up on the terms and conditions before entering into anything! Jeez, you only have yourself to blame sometimes. Stupidity does not pay!

OK, rant over. I'm whisking myself off to see Genius and then Wossy (Whoopi Goldberg and Jason Isaacs tonight! Yay! Ten quid on Whoopi to talk about the stage version of Sister Act and Jason to talk about his new film, Good (Viggo Mortensen (a name I always pronounce as if he were a Norwegian) visited BBC Breakfast earlier this week, talking about the same thing)). Ta-ta!

Must. Stop. Visiting. The. Red. Dwarf. Forum.

2009-04-02T16:09:00.005+01:00

I seriously have to stop winding myself up by visiting The Red Dwarf forum several times an hour these days. These guys have some interesting theories about what is going to happen in the new Back to Earth special, and kind of ruin it for me. I would rather be surprised during the actual screening (eight days to go, eight days to go!) than having every possible outcome listed in front of me, leaving very little to the imagination.

In anticip............................................ation (see? I still keep my mind occupied with references to other films and TV programmes) of the Greatest Red Dwarf Event of the Year (the only, actually), I went out and bought no less than two silly TV guides the other day, in addition to RadioTimes which I already subscribe to, and SFX Magazine (which a co-worker thought read "SEX"--he was slightly bemused). Shame on me! But they all have different photos, you see, and since I am probably never going to look at those ever again unless I borrow someone's scanner and digitise them, it's vital that I have as many different versions as humanly possible.

Oh, anyway. Everyone keeps going on and on and on ad nauseam about their loooooooooooooooooooooooong Easter holiday these days, and I'm sitting here thinking the only good thing about Easter (although it DOES count as at least 20 good things rolled into one, to be honest) is the already quietly mentioned Red Dwarf specials on Dave, and the fact that I still haven't opened the Easter-themed bags of marzipan, chocolates and Seigmenn I got for my birthday in March. I am going to work throughout Easter (let's hope the trains are running), so everyone else can just fuck off with their holidays and all that crap. Blech.

More Synths, Please (and a Little Bit of Cowbell)

2009-03-30T16:42:00.003+01:00

Btw, did I link to Depeche's newest video? As a good, little fan, I have of course preordered the album.

I Take That Back...

2009-03-30T15:58:00.003+01:00

Re: my last post, and Erasure's dancing (well, Andy's dancing; Vince hasn't been dancing since pre-Depeche Mode, I think)...it didn't really improve over the years. I'm beginning to believe in the notion that white men can't dance. Not even flamboyant white men like Andy Bell. Ouch. (Yes, I've watched through most of the videos by now. Fun to see the changes over time. Excruciating to see the "special effects".)

OK...That's Just Wrong...

2009-03-30T11:43:00.005+01:00

Watching the DVD of the new Total! Pop thingie by Erasure, I noticed that they had had an appearance in 1987 on the Tom O'Connor Roadshow, which basically consisted of lots of elderly people in the audience. I know that this may not mean much; after all we all have different tastes and people can surprise you, but the probability of even 10% of those being the least bit interested in synthpop back in '87 is very low.

Luckily, Erasure could soon pick better gigs and dance moves. And I just discovered that even though I wasn't a fan from the very beginning (due to being too young and too non-UK-based, really), I have been a fan of them for 17 of their 24 years of existence, so I don't feel too bad about it. Also considering I genuinely own most of their back catalogue, including quite a few rare promos (one being a Japanese one I happened upon in a second-hand shop in Oslo back in the late nineties) and I actually listen to all of their remixes etc., I think I could call myself a proper fan by now (I am going to continue ignoring the fact that I have yet to see them live).

This morning I spotted the cover headline in the Metro saying "Soldiers in £250K MOT pay shambles". I thought this was rather weird; had they been fiddling with MOT papers or something? I thought perhaps they had been forging papers for their tanks or something. I then realised it said "MoD" (Ministry of Defence), not "MOT" (the Ministry of Transport's roadworthiness test for vehicles). I think my recent surge of interest in classic cars has coloured my ARS (Acronym Recognition Sense) (ok, so neither MoD nor MOT is technically an acronym, but "ARS" is funny).

I have to say the guys behind the Red Dwarf marketing are working overtime these days! There are lots of online virals and hidden extras lurking, and they even update these daily! Amazing. Of course, my head will implode soon if this keeps up. Only 11 days to go! (Start here if you're interested.)

The boys from the Dwarf urge you to click on that link!

Is it Spring? Not Yet!

2009-03-28T15:43:00.005Z

This weather just cannot make up its mind. It's supposed to be spring, I think, but it's very cold and windy out. That magnificent-looking sun is just a red herring, believe me!

Well, I have the whole weekend off for once, and am going to enjoy myself (trying to steer clear of Red Dwarf for at least two days (happy b, btw, Chris)) - hopefully with a nice book and perhaps a few hours of playing Empire: Total War. Well, it's the thought that counts, I hear.

Scandie London!

2009-03-27T20:21:00.005Z

We discovered a "new" Scandinavian place in London the other day and simply had to go there today, on my day off. They have a restaurant and grocery's in the same place, which is perfect.

On our way there, we spotted Sue Johnston, from The Royle Family and Waking the Dead, all depending on which series you value the most...well, to be honest, she's in both series no matter what you think.

My Chris Barrie obsession (there you have it, in print, finally, seriously undermining my gayness) is blooming, and I think I may already own just about everything he's ever appeared in (it helped that I already owned The Blackadder Collection, The New Statesman and Filthy, Rich and Catflap, being a fan of Rik Mayall's after all (11 years and still going reasonably strong, although I wasn't too keen about the Dangerous Brothers sequences during Saturday Live). OK, so I haven't got around to Spitting Image just yet (would any Norwegian slightly older than myself please confirm that this series was shown on Norwegian/Swedish telly at any point during the eighties, otherwise I would have to admit to the fact that I was hooked on British comedy before I remember having been introduced to it properly - I do remember, for instance, watching several series of The Brittas Empire (NRK being a BBC prostitute), but I'm not sure I remember Spitting Image merely from the Royal Variety Performance or The Secret Policemen's Biggest Ball (I am too drunk and lazy to look up if they were even present in the Biggest Ball Amnesty fest))?).

House in Kent, Flat in London, a Couple of Classic Cars and a Private Plane

2009-03-22T17:10:00.004Z

...I don't ask for much, do I? I guess I'd have to win a bit more than yesterday's whopping two pounds on the Dream Number, but it's a start, isn't it? Also, I would need a driving licence and a private pilot's licence, but it'd be worth it, I'm sure! I've even picked out a couple of places in Kent where it looks nice. So do the prices! Not.

I think I may be a bit unhappy with being stuck in a rut, so I tend to dream about a better future, but I think perhaps it would need at least a minimum of effort on my part to actually get there, so fat chance that's ever going to happen!

In other news I have spent the last two weeks doing nothing but work, sleep, eat and watch Red Dwarf, The Brittas Empire, Tomb Raider (I fast-forwarded through the sequel and managed to cut the viewing time down to a nice twenty minutes or so), Petrolheads and Massive Engines--and yes, there is a link there--and now I'm just...tired. I actually didn't play MadWorld (commentaries by Greg Proops) until the day after I got the game, that's how obsessed I've been with other things lately. My inner geek...uhmm, what am I saying; I don't have an inner geek; it's all ME! Anyway; I am embracing my geekdom.

Ooh, and we went to see Phil Nichol on stage on Wednesday. He was slightly more bearded and spitting than I had expected, but also very funny (and for any fans who weren't there: Yes, he did sing "The Only Gay Eskimo"). I was worried he would drag people up on stage, as we were sitting in the front row, but luckily he didn't deem me to be stage material. A guy called Mike got the dubious honour instead. Phew! Must remember not to book tickets that close to the performers in future. Much due to the increased risk of being spat at.

Yes, please!

2009-03-21T16:17:00.003Z

Jaguar XJ6 4.2L

Jaguar E-Type

Jensen Interceptor Mk III

Or how about:

Jensen Interceptor convertible

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...although my conscience tells me "NOOOOOO!" because of the environment, and my common sense tells me "NOOOOOO!" because I actually have neither the money nor the licence! But a girl can dream...

This is also the first time EVER that I have tagged an entry with "cars". I'm moving to motorcycles next, and then: Helicopters!

The Beeb Do it Again

2009-03-17T09:53:00.005Z

Wow, that new Yellowstone series looks good, doesn't it? It's more like art than a nature programme. Must be excellent viewing in HD (we only have Freeview, which looks good in itself). Highly recommended!

I'm being anal retentive again, and am linking one box set to another via cast members. It's actually just an excuse to be able to see all those comedy shows I've been longing to watch (again) for a long time but haven't quite got round to. So after the last two weeks' insane hyper-devouring of Red Dwarf, I started watching The Brittas Empire during the weekend (link: Chris Barrie), then I'll start watching

Green Wing (link: Pippa Haywood),
and then Black Books (link: Tamsin Greig),
How Do You Want Me (link: Dylan Moran),
Big Train (link: Mark Heap),
Spaced (link: Simon Pegg)
and Hippies (link: Peter Serafinowicz).

From there I want to venture into the world of film by linking Julian Rhind-Tutt to Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, where we can actually link back to Red Dwarf again via Chris Barrie. Hooray. I need a lie-down.

Hmmmmmm... grey matter boiling

2009-03-16T15:48:00.004Z

Gordon Wellesley Brittas and Arnold Judas Rimmer both killed people on their first (and only) day working as a volunteer for the Samaritans. Coincidence? I think not.

Gordon W. Brittas.

Arnold J. Rimmer.

Why?

2009-03-15T19:09:00.000Z

Just...why?

Best Mamma Mia Ever!

2009-03-14T09:48:00.003Z

Last night's final, final sketch from French & Saunders ever (until someone manages to lure them out again, I suppose) was the definite version of the Mamma Mia! film. I was almost falling off the sofa laughing when "Pierce Brosnan" (Philip Glenister) did his big number. Excellent singing! And the fact that the part of "the Swede" was played by...a swede! I do believe Stellan Skarsgård is a better actor than any swede, though. Ooh, and Joanna Lumley playing..."Patsy". LOL!

I am in major Red Dwarf overload mode these days. It's basically all I watch, think about and even dream about. Thankfully I don't have to wait 21 years for the whole thing to finish, like many of the first, most hard-core fans have. The Back to Earth trilogy starts on Dave on the 10th of April and is released on a feature-packed DVD a few months later. I have to say that the Red Dwarf DVDs are exceptional. They're filled to the brim with PROPER bonus material (not just "animated menus" and trailers for other shows), and I have been watching EVERYTHING (which takes about three to four hours per series). Once I'm done with series eight I'll probably start watching it from the beginning with commentaries (proper commentaries from all of the actors, not just some obscure script editor who had nothing better to do). Maybe I should get a tattoo; either "Ace Rimmer - what a guy!" or just simply an image of Mr. Flibble.

Someone needs a break...

Empire's Here!

2009-03-04T10:58:00.003Z

Empire: Total War came in the post yesterday (together with a parcel from Amazon I had my flatmate to open in case it was something I hadn't ordered, and it was, so I'll open it on my birthday on Saturday), and I was filled with glee. Unfortunately I was told as I was at work, early in the morning, so I spent the day looking forward to getting back home (more than usual, I mean :p).

A word of warning, if anyone googles "Empire: Total War" and "install" and other nifty words like that and browses through to page 6507* of the search results and decides to give this blog a visit: This does require a Steam account. And an internet connection on the computer you're installing to. And some degree of patience.

For all non-users of Steam: First of all, install it to the hard drive where you keep your games, because apparently there is no way to get it to install downloaded games etc. to a different location to where it itself is situated. Secondly, once you have started the installation, opened an account and can see the Steam main window where it is frantically trying to get in touch with the Steam server to start downloading, EXIT the program and then restart it by using cmd, typing in "steam -install e:" (where "e:" is the letter of the DVD drive where you keep the Empire DVD). It will then install from the two DVDs you got. Otherwise it will download the whole thing, which could take ages as it's 15GB in size.

The game itself looks awesome (a word I seldom utilise). I only got to play through the two tutorials (one for land battles and one for naval battles), then started a new a game and basically stared at the screen for about 45 minutes, reading up on all the different possibilities and moving only two agents and one fleet during that time. I didn't even end the turn before saving and going to bed. It's that massive. (Of course, one turn won't take 45 minutes from here on in, I hope, haha!) I thought Medieval II: Total War was huge, and this is even bigger. I am salivating just thinking about it (and because lunch is approaching).

If you don't believe me, here are a couple of screenshots to gaze at longingly.

*) Actual page number not available at time of publishing.

Gotta Love the Customers

2009-02-25T17:16:00.003Z

Lovely. So far today, and I have to warn you as this post contains some very bad language, I have been called these things:

Clown.
Cocksucker.
Amateur.
Fucked-out cunt bastard.
Bureaucrat.
Cunt (times 15 or so).
Slow.
Slimy cunt.
Cocky.

All of this by the same customer, within just one hour. Now, I cannot argue with the last one, because I can seem a little cocky if I am 100% right and the person I'm communicating with is a little squid with a brain the size of half a peanut, but I was amazed he had the intelligence to pick up on that so quickly, if at all! Then again, I think perhaps he was mainly just jotting down whatever word he could remember.

Gotta love customer services...

"I Never Cheat!"

2009-02-23T10:35:00.005Z

I bet you do. Every day, if you live in the city. Let me give you an example: Queueing. Do you not get in front of someone while going down the stairs to the train? While you're waiting for people to file out of the carriage, I bet someone waiting at the other side of the door gets there ahead of you, even though you were the one who got there first, right? And albeit a couple of people were there before you, you get the first seat which becomes available, don't you? Cheat!

Well, the Oscars were handed out last night, and for the fourth or fifth time running I didn't get to see it live. Hopefully I will get the chance to see the show at a later date. I wasn't surprised to hear Slumdog Millionaire getting all those awards, even though I didn't really think it deserved all of them. Then again, it was probably the best of the nominated films. Who am I to start suggesting alternative nominees, right?

I would also like to point out that although I was a huge fan of the first series, Damages now has me focused more on the looks of the two main characters. WTF happened to Rose Byrne who plays Ellen? She looked normal the last time I saw her, and now she is barely visible! Skeletal people really freak me out. And then Glenn Close suddenly looks as if someone is constantly pulling her ponytail. This whole thing makes me see plastic surgery in the other actors as well, even though they probably haven't had any, and worst of all, it takes the focus off of William Hurt, which is just not on!

At least they look much better in the wonderful Lark Rise to Candleford. And speaking of which; after a week of intensive Press Gang viewing and a longing for a complete DVD box set of Absolutely Fabulous (when, oh when), I am in Julia Sawalha overdrive mode. I think she's everywhere! Or maybe that's called "hallucinating". But hey, the other night I dreamt that Ellen Page lived in our ceiling and communicated in a very intricate sign language she herself had constructed. And the night before I was being hunted by CIA agents because I was trying to bring down some corrupt government officials with the help of a civil servant living behind a tree in Canada. While I was there, I stocked up on crisps and Cheez Doodles, because I couldn't get them where I lived in NYC. Clearly my imagination is never sleeping, argh!

40 Hits! Yay!

2009-02-13T17:27:00.002Z

I'm talking about Erasure's new compilation album, not the number of visitors to this site.

This weekend (Tue-Thur) I have mainly been watching Red Dwarf, playing Final Fantasy IX and waiting for my gigantic Shakespeare book. Just to update you.

The BAFTAs

2009-02-08T22:23:00.005Z

No big surprises there, really. Didn't agree with all of them, but none of them were totally outrageous. What was outrageous, however, was the terrible editing during the Fellowship award, and I really hope that the Beeb or the BAFTAs will be providing the great public with the whole acceptance speech.

I also learned that Claude Berri died sometime last year. There's always at least one "oh, is he dead?" and one "oh, I forgot he had died last year" and also at least one "I thought he died years ago" during the In Memoriam sequence.

Oh yes, and Mick Jagger turned out to be very funny! And it's good to know Robert Downey, jr. is in town at the moment.

Another thing that was proven once and for all, was the rather vast gap between trained stage actors and those who happened to find themselves in front of a camera in Hollywood at some point after someone shouted 'action!'; Jason Isaacs had clearly learnt the script and managed to actually look at people, not just the teleprompter, and also delivered it with feeling. Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen (yes, soon appearing in Waiting for Godot, which some of us knew very well before they mentioned it tonight) were of course equally well-versed at appearing in front of a large audience. Most of the others seemed nervous and wooden, really. Yes, I am probably picky. Or even an elitist when it comes to acting. Oh, no.

No Marton Csokas this year, though. Guess he's not "dating" anyone who was nominated...

FFXIII Trailer

2009-01-29T12:06:00.001Z

Mmmm, nice. The series has evolved a teeny weeny bit since the first installment.

Sony - The Evil Master of the World?

2009-01-25T17:21:00.003Z

I realised the other day that the number of Sony gadgets in my home has increased almost without my noticing it. It all started with a MD player I bought back in 1999 or 2000, and I have now accumulated a Sony Playstation 2, a Sony Playstation 3, a Sony DVD recorder, a Sony LCD-TV and a Sony Walkman (mp3). I am sure it is part of their evil plot to gradually take over the world.

I am very happy with these products, though, so it doesn't really matter to me.

I was watching an episode of the first series of The House of Eliott earlier today, when I just couldn't shake the feeling that one of the guest stars looked familiar, and at the same time I felt he didn't quite belong there. It was as if I didn't think of him as an avtor. At one point I thought he was connected to royalty somehow. When the credits rolled I realised I was sort of right in both ways; it was Michael Grandage, esteemed theatre director!

Waiting for the Inauguration to Start...

2009-01-20T15:16:00.004Z

...I want you to know, in case you were confused, that America is England's fault, and the ~~Proops~~ proof is here. It all makes sense now! (Although I would increase the area to include the whole of Europe, ahem...)

The Conchords Tonight! Tape it or D...on't...

2009-01-18T16:19:00.003Z

Flight of the Conchords is back for a second TV series on HBO tonight. It's a must-see (if you haven't already seen it, ahem...) and the most important bit is Greg Proops is in it. NOT reprising his role from the radio series. Heh.

No FFXIII Just Yet

2009-01-17T16:58:00.002Z

I have to admit this actually cheers me up a little bit. No Final Fantasy XIII until 2010 for those of us who don't know any Japanese. This gives me more time to finish...ooh, let's see...Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XII. I became a fan of the series as recent as August 2004, but since then I have been buying just about any RPG by Squaresoft/Square Enix I can get my hands on. I have yet to finish any of them, LOL! Not that I give up, it's just that there is simply too much to explore and I honestly don't really want to finish a Square game, either, because then I feel as if I'm leaving friends behind...or maybe that's just a lame excuse to start playing a different game once I hit an obstacle. ;-)

In other news, I'm going home for the day! Yay! And there's fuck all on telly tonight, so Final Fantasy VI, here I come!

Once Again, the Man in the Street Suffers...

2009-01-17T10:47:00.003Z

The newest thing to make our lives more complicated because of the minority of people who do things illegally, is real-time card fraud checks. Lovely. So, due to people who like to blow themselves up because they have been brainwashed by cowardly religious fanatics, flying is a mess. Due to crackers finding ways around copy protection measures even days before a computer game is released, people with legal copies will most probably get ~~spyware~~ SecuROM etc. installed on their computers without their knowledge. And now, due to people who can't be arsed to get a job and earn money the lawful way, we may not be able to use our money freely because there is a risk of card fraud.

I know, I know..."you'd regret it if these measures weren't in place and you became a victim". The point is I am sick and tired of these low-lives making things more difficult for the rest of us. I'm mad at them (and EA/Electronic Arts).

In other news, I watched Slumdog Millionaire with my posse the other day, and it was a nice film. Perhaps a little bit too long, but well deserving of its accolades so far in the award season.

Some More Golden Oldies...

2009-01-12T15:30:00.004Z

...this time from the TV drama department. Actually, they're not necessarily that old, but they bring back good memories and are still considered solid drama series. One day when I have the space and funds for it, I would like to increase my collection so that it contains series such as Upstairs Downstairs, The Forsyte Saga, The Onedin Line, Family at War, To Serve Them All My Days, The Secret Army and Tenko (the latter two have been shown on UKTV History, which now shows The House of Eliott, as previously mentioned, so there is hope for other quality shows as well).

However, I'm still working on my complete collection of the Aussie A Country Practice (a huge project in itself), and some time down the line I will get the complete series of the Canadian Road to Avonlea and all of the original Degrassi series. I think I need a bigger place.

Now, what brought all of this on? Well, it's an interesting story. OK, so maybe it isn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway. And blame Amazon and IMDb along the way.

I was watching The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a film following the freed slave Jane through her long life, starting with the Civil War, ending up in the early 1960s and the start of the Civil Rights movement. I then naturally remembered the excellent Roots, and thought of the brilliant (albeit soapy) North and South. From here my mind wandered to another old favourite of mine, How the West Was Won (I always have to look up the title, as we just called it The Macahans), and from there I started thinking about all these great drama series from before the glossy nineties, back when they had the time to make a long intro and an equally long extro, granting all involved in the filmmaking an equal share of screen time. Isn't that a fascinating story? :p (I'm going to block comments so that question remains rhetorical, haha!)

At the same time I bought Press Gang more than a year ago and still hasn't finished more than half of the first series, so I have a feeling there's no rush to get other titles just yet, ahem!

1291 Days Left!

2009-01-12T09:54:00.003Z

Until Doomsday. Or "the 2012 Olympics", as non-Londoners call it. There's a countdown pillar thing outside Stratford station telling us how long we'll have to wait until we're swarmed by tourists and sport enthusiasts. Somehow I hope I don't live there then (I thought Norway Cup each year was bad enough when I lived in Oslo, and that's just twenty thousand kids or something).

Yesterday was the "you go, girl!" episode of Lark Rise to Candleford. I counted four utterings of that phrase by the occupant of any of the sofas in our sitting room.

Yesterday also introduced a re-run of the brilliant The House of Eliott, which I have seen twice before and which DVD boxsets I have been drooling over for a bit now. I was so chuffed I had to watch the first episode the minute I came home. I remember buying the soundtrack the first time I saw the series, hehe!

I also watched Call Northside 777 yesterday; an investigative drama based on a true story and featuring James Stewart. It was very well made and I would recommend it. There was a funny scene in the middle where a lie detector was introduced. The film was made in 1948, so lie detectors were still fairly new. The guy who explained to Jimmy Stewart how it worked, didn't seem like an actor, and I instinctively thought "it's probably the creator of the lie detector himself". A quick search on IMDb proved me right. Well, he was possibly the only one who could explain the machine at that time, LOL! He wouldn't have needed going so much into detail, though...

Anyway, the Golden Globes took place yesterday and I am fairly happy with the results, even though I didn't win any! No big surprise, really, as I wasn't nominated, but I could have got a lifetime achievement award or something! I mean, what's the difference between me and the person who actually got that award? (So as to keep this spoiler-free, I suggest you go check the results for yourself.)

Film Recommendation

2009-01-10T16:00:00.003Z

Now, Before Winter Comes wasn't too bad, but I guess I won't be watching it again anytime soon. John Hurt and David Niven were good, of course, but there were boring bits among the romantic subplot, and mixed with the typical musical interludes of 60s films, it became long-winded. The Baby's Room, on the other hand, was pretty good. Spanish psychological thriller at its best.

Yesterday saw the last episode of BBC's five-parter The Diary of Anne Frank. I've read the book three times and seen a few different productions on telly/film, but the ending always gets to me. Such a tremendous waste.

Golden Oldies / Olden Goldies

2009-01-10T11:10:00.003Z

Sometimes I wish I had a time machine so that I could go back to the 30s and 40s to experience cinema back then (yes, I would probably do other, more sensible things with a time machine, too). I was just watching The Big Sleep and thinking "ok, I bet this was a great night out back in 1945, but in 2009 it's a bit too long for my taste". Of course, Philip Marlowe is a super-cool detective (I refuse to use the word "dick"), and he seems to be a gun magnet, but the film could have been cut to one hour thirty minutes without losing any vital information. Still, it's nice to see a film without outrageous fighting scenes; apparently in the 40s people actually got hurt after a few punches, but nowadays people can take 150 blows to the head without flinching. Somehow I have a feeling filmmakers in the 40s were slightly more realistic...

OK, onto the next film! It's supposed to be a mediocre one, so not particularly looking forward to it (Before Winter Comes), but it does have David Niven in it.

Ooooh! Snow!

2009-01-09T16:15:00.004Z

Only joking, there's no snow here.

I have been watching a few films lately, though, just thought I'd keep you up to date. Or rather, to keep myself up to date. After all, how else am I going to know if I've kept my promise to watch one unseen film per day of 2009? Let's see...there was In the Valley of Elah the other day, which was better than I had anticipated. By the way, that Charlize Theron looks great even with hardly any makeup (and before you start arguing, she did wear lots of makeup in Monster ;-) ). Good for her!

OK, then I had a Guillermo del Toro day on Wednesday, as I watched Pan's Labyrinth (not a children's story, like I had expected) and then The Orphanage (which I thought was going to be a thriller, but turned out to be a very sad story). Yesterday I watched D.A.R.Y.L., which I thought I hadn't seen before, but apparently I had. Oh, well. Then today I watched 21 Grams, which spent too much time being chronologically confusing to be captivating enough. I'm sure the story was a good one, and normally I like films which jump forwards and backwards in time, but I didn't like the editing in this one. They simply waited too long to make any sense of it all, by which time I had started staring at my chipped nails instead. 3-Iron wasn't too bad. Slow and very quiet (there is hardly any dialogue), but you've come to expect that from Far Eastern films by now. I liked the ending, but unfortunately what seemed to last two hours only lasted 1 hour 22 minutes, which means it is not exactly action-packed.

Mass Effect and Ciarán's Haircut

2009-01-08T11:35:00.004Z

These are the things that have occupied my mind these past few days. I resumed my game of Mass Effect which I started half a year ago. This led to some serious power gaming until my computer simply turned itself off. Oops. Need some proper cooling. Anyway. Then the newest Lynda LaPlante offering featured Ciarán Hinds with a very peculiar haircut. I was perhaps a little too focused on that to begin with, but got into the story after a bit.

I was going to comment upon the news item about the six-year-old boy who took his mum's car to drive to school, but after some digging around for the source, I just became depressed. What started as a funny, little story that I heard this morning on the Beeb, has now turned into a nasty POLITICAL DEBATE over in the States. For crying out loud, why do they have to twist everything to suit their own political views? Do they actually KNOW what happened? Or are they simply listening to whatever they're saying at the news on their TV station of choice? I was going to say that I found it strange that someone would let their kid play Grand Theft Auto--which is an amazingly brilliant game, but should probably be available only to those who actually understand the difference between fact and fiction--but if I do, that will probably just be taken into the long-winded, boring discussion about how games, films, music and just about anything else which is remotely entertaining, may or may not contribute to an increased aggression among those very few among us who are already aggression-prone.

Computer and video gaming is officially the number one pastime in Britain. Thus I vote for ten pages of computer news in all the major newspapers, every day, plus at least five minutes worth of gaming reviews and news on telly during every news programme. It's clearly more interesting to people than sport, so it's time we got the focus off of sport. I mean, this morning the news about Kevin Pietersen quitting as English captain was the third item on the agenda. Luckily they had the common sense to put the horrible situation on the Gaza Strip first, but only just, it seemed. Then there was something about the credit crunch again. But third? I mean, a lot of people care, but it should NOT have that sort of priority! Surely there are lots upon lots of more important stuff happening around the world? I believe, for instance, there is a list of forgotten humanitarian crises we could get back to before caring about some cricket player who just couldn't take the pressure.

By the way, have I mentioned how little I can stand people who slurp when they eat and/or drink? Unfortunately I have a few of those working nearby me, and they have like three meals a day while at work (seriously!) and lots of cups of god-knows-what (probably tea). Their meals are usually stinky fish, noodles or smelly soups or stinky, smelly noodle fish soups, so there is a lot of slurping going on and it's making my blood boil.

CBB 2009

2009-01-02T23:02:00.004Z

OK, so I had to watch tonight's introduction of this year's housemates in the Celebrity Big Brother house. So there's LaToya Jackson, Verne Troyer, Coolio and Ulrika Jonsson mixed with a couple of ex-popstars and a "glamour model" (don't know why they have started calling girls who like being photographed topless "glamour models", because let's face it; there's no glamour in that), a Scottish politician and Terry Christian from the controversial/annoying The Word. Well, well, well.

I started my only kind of New Year resolution yesterday (although I had planned starting it a little bit earlier, so technically it isn't a resolution for the new year); I have to watch one of my many, many unseen films for each day of 2009. Since there may be days where I actually have better things to do, and other days where I have nothing better to do, I have not made it a rule to watch one film every day, because then the project would have been doomed from the start. Yesterday I watched Mamma Mia! (Colin Firth! Stellan Skarsgård! In...spandex?!), which I had received the day before, so it was obviously a film I was going to see ASAP anyway, but it was unseen until then and as such a real option. Today I watched The 39 Steps (1935, Hitchcock), which was kind of mediocre, but then Hitchcock's films have mostly lost their charm over the years anyway, with a few exceptions (like the excellent Rope). I had to watch 36 Hours again after that. Great film, and it has James Garner in it, which is always a plus.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T17:14:00.000Z

Here's to a happy 2009 for everyone!

It's Like a RPG Wet Dream

2008-12-31T14:33:00.002Z

Reading a very interesting article about the upcoming (and highly anticipated) RPG Dragon Age: Origins, I noticed some graphics at the bottom of the page, innocently putting it all into perspective by mentioning which older games this one is more or less based on: Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights and Eye of the Beholder. I just about slipped off my chair.

Now, if I could only concentrate long enough to actually finish all those games (so far I've only finished Neverwinter Nights out of those four)...

Excellent Honour News!

2008-12-31T14:31:00.001Z

Liz Smith and Michael Sheen receive an MBE and an OBE, respectively. Brilliant!

It's Been a Year!

2008-12-30T12:18:00.004Z

In case you didn't know.

It's been a year since I realised Greg Proops was the best thing since sliced bread, computers and Erasure mixed into one. Well, maybe I could do without the bread. And what a year it's been! My poor DVD recorder has been on constant daily timer in order for me to quickly accumulate most episodes of both version of Whose Line is it Anyway?, and in usual Ingaroo-fashion it didn't take me too long to see him live even though the odds were against me from the very start, his living and working in LA and all that crap.

Other things have happened this year, too, but since I can't remember much of it, I'd rather save that for 2008's This and That list, due sometime within the next few weeks on this very site, and instead concentrate on things I can remember, such as this past weekend.

I spent much of my time revisiting Bullworth Academy (it's a game) and watching films. I got some excellent films for Christmas, thanks to Aug and his good taste, and managed to see a few European flicks not touched by Hollywood: Auf der anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven), La double vie de Véronique (The Double Life of Veronique) and the fabulous Vier Minuten (Four Minutes). I then quickly went on a mad shopping spree on Amazon and am expecting some nice additions to my film collection over the next few months (yes, some of them are not yet released).

Speaking of which; I decided I needed to do something about my film collection yesterday, and set about putting them in alphabetical order. I haven't done that since I moved here! It became quite clear to me that this was the only decent way to deal with the problem, after I nearly panicked on Christmas Eve when I couldn't find Love Actually anywhere. It took me about five hours to do it properly, but at least I got to listen to some music (The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, mostly) while doing so, and the end result was fantastic! Maybe it won't take me 15 minutes to find a certain DVD from now on!

I also finally bought the whole of Monty Python's Flying Circus on DVD! Yay me! This is quite extraordinary, but the thing is I've never actually owned all the episodes. For a through-and-through fanatic like me this is blasphemous, almost. I had the first series on VHS in different editions (two with Swedish subtitles, one with Dutch subtitles and one in the original version which cost me about three times as much as the others), but could never really afford buying the whole set when it was first released on DVD, and then after a while I sort of...forgot. But since I have so much of their other stuff (including just about anything remotely connected to any of the members, off telly and radio and so on), I felt it was about time I could finally access my favourite ~~exploding Burmese penguin~~ sketch(es) at any time (and in good viewing quality ;-) ). So what did I do when I gleefully got the boxset in the post? Why, put it on my shelf with all the other stuff I've been excited about buying and then never bothered to actually watch, of course!

Which reminds me I have promised myself to read a book today. Ta-ta!

One Big, Happy Family

2008-12-26T13:01:00.004Z

For the past half hour or so, I've been reading through the list on Wikipedia showing the line of succession to the British throne. There are some very interesting entries there.

King Constantin II of Greece is number 424 in the line, and his wife, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece is number 232, because she is the sister of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who is much further up the line.

The Duke of Edinburgh (better known as Prince Philip, the husband of current ruler Queen Elizabeth II) is number 485 in the line!

The most interesting of all, to a patriot like myself, is that the first non-British on the list is our very own King Harald V of Norway and his descendants - and this means that we beat the Swedes again! LOL!

What's more annoying is that the antiquated British laws surrounding throne succession prefer males to females, so Princess Ingrid Alexandra, number two in line in Norway, is below her little brother, Prince Sverre Magnus, in the British line, even though he is number three in Norway. Silly! (Of course, I should probably add we had a similarly antiquated law ourselves until 1990, so I'll soon get off my high horse...)

This proves once and for all, if there ever was any doubt, that the European royal houses are basically built on in-breeding. Just goes to show what the class system does to you. ;-)

In other news, I paid my first visit to a proper off-licence on Christmas Eve; it was the local one and they had a nice selection and nice prices. No need to stand in line in Morrison's, in other words! Unfortunately the wine I chose tasted so nice I quickly finished half the bottle during my Christmas lunch yesterday, making the Christmas special of Doctor Who slightly difficult to follow, but all the more fun!

I started the day watching the original Miracle on 34th Street, which was more modern than I had anticipated (being from 1947 and all), and then continued with Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings, which I hadn't seen in years. Panic struck on the 23rd as I simply couldn't find my copy of Love Actually, so I had to settle for Freaky Friday (which I love anyway, so no matter, really) that night. I couldn't let another day without the festive Richard Curtis flick go by, though, and ventured back to the Shelves of Disarray on Christmas Eve to find Love Actually most probably exactly where I'd left it. There was much rejoicing.

Yesterday also featured a very welcome look back at the Blackadder series, filled with new interviews with the contributors, actors etc. Who'd've thought that one of the most memorable scenes in a comedy ever (the end of series four--if you don't know what I'm talking about, I seriously doubt we have anything in common), was actually quite shit in its original format and was made into such an iconic scene only due to some brilliant editors? Wow.

What's Wrong with People? Part 288.

2008-12-25T17:51:00.002Z

This is bad karma.

R.I.P. Harold Pinter

2008-12-25T16:50:00.002Z

One of the best playwrights of the past 50 years (or ever, really) has died. Of course, this makes me want to read through all my Pinter plays again.

How Not to Get Traffic to Your Site

2008-12-23T15:47:00.001Z

Local news web site sues NY Times for linking to them - how moronic is it possible to get? I think we may be scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

Monkey?

2008-12-23T11:34:00.001Z

Finally found my favourite Green Screen Show bit on YouTube (not that I have been looking for it before now), and you have to see it: Click here.

Thank you!

There Will Be Blood

2008-12-23T11:03:00.002Z

Finally got to watch There Will Be Blood yesterday, and I have to admit Daniel Day-Lewis is a very good actor. And what haunting music! Of course, the end music was very familiar and to my great surprise I discovered I only have one song by Brahms, so naturally had to run out (i.e. go online) and buy his Violin Concerto in D on CD.

The film reminded me a bit of Lost in Translation; slow-paced and not too much happening, but compelling viewing nevertheless. Of course, There Will Be Blood had some action sequences and there was the matter of the increasing madness to follow. Oh, and of course it had Ciarán Hinds in it, which is always a plus.

Anyway, good to see Paul Thomas Anderson back on form. I'm still not quite sure what Punch-Drunk Love was about.

Holler!

2008-12-20T22:35:00.004Z

Everybody now: Mwahahahahaaah! The rebel in me quite enjoyed reading about Spore being 2008's most pirated game, as EA's rather brutal copy-protection system is very unfair on those of us who actually buy games. When I buy a game I want to be able to reinstall it as many times as I'd like. Sometimes, you see, I like to upgrade my computer, upgrade my operating system and reinstall my older games. But no can do with Spore. Three times is the maximum. This isn't doing EA any favours, but of course, they don't care as they're almost running a monopoly now. Thus the reports of pirates getting their own back are like sweet music to my ears.

Ooh, speaking of music...we went to Christmas in New York on the 7th. It was supposed to be...err...a celebration of...I dunno, really. To be honest it was so cheap and tacky and ludicrous I'm not going to spend more time thinking about it.

I will, however, have to mention La Cage aux Folles again. It moved to the West End earlier this year and has received raving reviews. As much as I love Denis Lawson, it should have been Philip Quast, and so I can't be bothered to go see it on the big stage. I did nevertheless see the excerpts at the Royal Variety Performance on telly last Wednesday, and...hmm...is it just me, or did they just do the show a disservice? OK, so Douglas Hodge belting out the show-stopping number I Am What I Am was good, but the dancing...well, in my opinion they just shouldn't have brought that rather noisy sequence with them. It's great in the show, but taken out of context, it may just seem whimsy. Plus, I miss Spencer Stafford.

OK, enough ranting for today.

Waiting Two Hours for the Bus to Arrive...

2008-12-20T16:26:00.004Z

...and then two come along at the same time.

Thanks to wonderful 4OD, I was finally able to watch the third episode of H Side Story. Only took three and a half years. I have been browsing through Channel 4's morning programme schedule every weekday since late 2005, just in case. I think I have been patient. Anyway, so Twatty McTwat himself, Ian 'H' Watkins (Steps was mainly a British "phenomenon", so I hadn't a clue who he was until I saw him on Celeb BB a couple of years ago...or was it last year? Who cares?), is so fucking stupid he thinks choosing to sing Stars in front of Philip Quast is a good idea. 'H' has basically the twattiest voice ever, with no real knack for acting and so basically everything that comes out of his mouth makes him sound like a wanker. And then having the nerve to suggest singing PQ's signature song from PQ's most famous role, in front of PQ himself...I believe he may have been too stupid to realise what a huge mistake he made, so I shall give him the benefit of the doubt, but by Gog, who thought it was a good idea to let him into the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in the first place?

OK, calm down, it's only a bit of fun...no, wait, it isn't! He took the place from someone more worthy! Twat.

However, the main point was to see Philip Quast again. It's been too long! (OK, so he was in Silent Witness a few months back, but I am impatient.) Besides, 'H' wasn't twatty enough not to listen to EVERYONE ELSE, so he chose a different song at the last minute. Literally. Spineless git. ;-)

Wow, Almost Two Months...

2008-12-20T15:08:00.003Z

...and all I have to say is this:

- All I’m saying is, if they can cure yellow fever and malaria, why can’t they do something about lactose-intolerance?
- Leonard, you’re gonna have to let this go. You had a little cheese dip, you farted, I thought it was cute.

(Johnny Galecki & Sara Rue, The Big Bang Theory)

What a brilliant series. And I've overdosed on Star Wars recently. I blame evil, evil ITV. First they show five of the films and then I simply have to re-play both of the absolutely fabulous Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic games. Le sigh.

By the by; Obama won! And he's bringing in Hillary Clinton! Yay!

Fallout! Oblivion! Godot! Etc.

2008-10-31T14:59:00.004Z

First of all, wouldn't this pairing be like the ultimate experience for any theatre-stroke-X-men-fan? Swoon.

Fallout 3 arrived by post yesterday, one day ahead of its UK release, and so I installed it while hurrying through the vast mountain of dishes which had mysteriously gathered during the past two days only (note to self: buy dishwasher ASAP). The game itself was like the Fallout series being mixed with the wonderful Oblivion - not surprisingly, as Fallout 3 and Oblivion are both made by Bethesda Softworks. I've been in love with the Fallout universe since the first game, especially since it has been turn-based up till now, so I was both eager to play the new game and apprehensive because of the new combat system. Turns out I had nothing to worry about. It's both real-time and turn-based, whatever you prefer, really, and to be honest, I am pretty sure I will use both modes, all depending on the situation. I am also happy that LittleBigPlanet was postponed another two weeks after all, since it would have clashed miserably with the release of Fallout 3. This way I have a week to explore the Wasteland before going on my first adventure with Sackboy.

Fanboys and fangirls will know what I'm yapping about.

While waiting to get back home from work, though, I'm spending my time reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire again, which I believe I haven't done for about seven years or so. J.K. Rowling's imagination is quite extraordinary.

How to be Scandinavian

2008-10-30T15:23:00.004Z

One of my Swedish colleagues just shared this link with me, showing a typical "you know you're Swedish when..." list. I discovered that with the exception of points 16, 20 and 26 (and in point 9, switch "Norway" for "Sweden"), everything is typical Norwegian, too. Even the fact that we actually feel a little bit at home when we're in IKEA abroad.

Speaking of IKEA, the long-awaited Easy to Assemble episode starring Greg Proops is up at TV.com.

And related to that, is the fact that in my last post I mentioned my Comedy Store Players dream team--in an ideal world this would of course also include The Proopster, but that would mean very infrequent visits to the Store for me.