|
|
17 December 2006
[wikipedia] My Wikipedia Contrail: Larry David … ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm was credited with helping clear a Los Angeles man named Juan Catalan of a first-degree murder charge. Catalan, who was arrested on suspicion of murder, maintained his innocence, saying he was at a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball game on May 12, 2003, during the time of the slaying. During the game, an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm was being shot in Dodger Stadium which contained footage of Juan Catalan with his daughter. When told that his show had released a wrongfully accused man, Larry David commented in a New Yorker article, “I tell people that I’ve now done one decent thing in my life. Albeit inadvertently.”’
7 December 2006
[tv] Imagine Links — nicely annotated link list covering Alan Yentob’s BBC documentary on the Internet. ‘I did try to track down Yentob’s myspace and livejournal but they appear to have been removed.’
30 November 2006
[simpsons] When iPods take over the Earth — screengrabs from a new episode of the Simpsons showing what happens after the iPods become self-aware.
[tags: Apple, iPod, TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on When iPods take over the Earth – A Warning to Mankind!]
25 November 2006
[tv] Binge Watching Contemporary TV — the blog City of Sound on DVD Box Sets … ‘When binge watching really kicks in, the form of the content itself is implicitly involved, as I’d suggest that the tighter the ‘universe’ the show inhabits, the higher the levels of intensity involved. In other words, with a show like ‘The West Wing’ – of which more later – the same set of characters inhabiting largely the same few spaces of the same location over seven seasons creates a gravitational pull which is difficult to escape from. Similarly, ‘Lost’, in being confined by an island, builds up a fictional universe one is immersed for most of the episode, with flashbacks off-island simply a counterpoint to the resolution of returning to that natural prison. Arguably, most successful TV shows have attempted to create a tightly defined universe…’
[tags: TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on “Binge Watching” DVD Box Sets]
18 November 2006
[tv] Make Love, Not Warcraft — Southpark animators discuss intergrating World of Warcraft into an episode of the animated TV Show … ‘The Blizzard team gave us a special “friends and family” server to play on. Every once an a while a strange player would walk by and check out group the filming. The programmers could instantly kill a player that got in the way of filming. There’s a player out there wondering what they had stumbled upon just before they were wiped from the location.’
17 November 2006
[tv] It’s Like A Jungle Sometimes — Grace Dent on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here … ‘Being in the jungle makes you constipated. Nobody aside from Lauren Booth has had a poo. Oddly enough, living on a diet of boiled muddy water and chargrilled alligator bum doesn’t do much for the bowels. Neither does sitting on the loo praying for movement with David Gest’s ghoulish face against the door clutching a bucket of water asking if you’ve had any luck.’
[tags: TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on Grace Dent on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here]
11 November 2006
[tv] Never-Ending Stories — article about how to fix the format of TV Shows like Lost. ‘Puzzles are meant to be solved, not prolonged. You can only tease viewers so long before they feel like they’re being mocked.’ [via City of Sound]
[tags: TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on How to fix the format of TV Shows like Lost]
10 November 2006
[comics] Alan Moore to Appear on the Simpsons … ‘[Moore] features in a sub-plot which sees a new ‘cool’ comic shop opening in Springfield in competition with the Android’s Dungeon, run by Comic Book Guy who is voiced by Hank Azaria. The new shop has persuaded Moore to make a public appearance.’ [via Progressive Ruin]
22 October 2006
[tv] Think outside the box — Jon Ronson Visits Deal or No Deal … ‘If anyone doubts the extent to which mysticism has permeated the hitherto secular corners of British society, they should spend a couple of days behind the scenes at Deal Or No Deal.
“I wrote to the cosmos that I would like to meet a woman who’ll make me laugh and make me happy,” Noel tells me. “I wrote that I’d like a relationship that’s not too heavy, with an attractive lady, and I’d like her to walk into my life by the end of September 2005. And she did!”
There is a short silence.
“She wasn’t the person who sold her story to the Sunday People back in July, was she?” I ask.
There’s another silence.
“Yes,” says Noel.’
10 October 2006
[tv] Why We Watch… Columbo — from Radio Times Why We Watch blog/column … ‘Here was a show in which you saw who committed the crime in the opening minutes, an oddball narrative ploy that turned the rules of TV detection inside out. With the best line-up of villains since Batman, the likes of Donald Pleasence, Johnny Cash and Patrick McGoohan would then underestimate the cigar-chomping, raincoat-wearing Columbo, who would itch at them like a sore until they broke, all the while ingratiating himself on their time.’
7 October 2006
[comedy] Let’s Play Numberwang! … ‘Numberwang accepts no responsibility for any loss of personal items, injury or sudden death.’ [via Diamond Geezer]
27 September 2006
[tv] Grace Dent’s TV OD — Dent’s blog on this year’s Big Brother was the best thing about the show – Radio Times now have her doing a column on TV every week … On You Are What You Eat: ‘Small Scottish woman chases fat people with a box of poo until they cry and eat salad.’
[tags: TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on New Grace Dent TV Column]
15 September 2006
[vids] Viral Video Chart … ‘The world’s most talked about videos…currently tracking YouTube, MySpace and Google Video’ [via Waxy’s Links]
13 September 2006
[myspace] Some MySpace profiles I’ve spotted recently: Mitchell and Webb (plus Super Hans, Mark and Jeremy), Ed Brubaker and Geoff Johns.
1 September 2006
[tv] E4 Sopranos Ad on YouTube — a nicely done parody of the opening credits of the Sopranos. [via Tom]
31 August 2006
[tv] Till Death Do Us Part — the Guardian takes a look at the Sopranos as Season 6 begins in the UK … ‘Many fan pages in cyberspace claim Chase has planted within the drama a systematic symbolism involving food. These web-heads note that when a character eats or breaks eggs, death almost always follows: Tony, for instance, accidentally steps on a carton just before ordering the murder of his cousin. Chase, when I interviewed him recently, insisted that these people were talking out of a hen’s behind: there is no intentional omelette sub-plot. Dr Melfi, however, would perhaps conclude that all this egg stuff is welling up for some reason from Chase’s subconscious.’
29 August 2006
[tv] Jim Rockford’s Answering Machine — a list of the messages left for Jim Rockford on the opening credits of The Rockford Files … ‘Jim, this is Cal of the Leave The Whales Alone Club. Our protest cruise leaves from the pier Saturday at 3 AM. The whales need you, Jim.’ [via Metafilter]
[tags: Lists, TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on Messages from Jim Rockford’s Answering Machine]
23 August 2006
[tv] Naked Keith Chegwin hits the Heights of ‘Memorably Rotten’ TV — a list of the Top 10 Worst TV Programmes. The list is: - Naked Jungle .. Cheggers Plays Cock – NSFW Picture.
- Minipops .. Pan’s People for Paedophiles.
- Triangle .. 80’s Glamour on a North Sea Ferry.
- Quickfire Balls .. Bingo On TV.
- Annie’s Bar .. Seems totally unmemorable rather than awful. YMMV.
- Wright Here, Wright Now .. I suspect the compiler of this list supports Spurs.
- Love Thy Neighbour .. Racist 70’s Sitcom.
- Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends .. Is this really that awful?
- Through The Keyhole .. LLoyd Grossman is immensely annoying.
- A Year In Provence .. The BBC and John Thaw don’t mix?
[tags: TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on Cheggers Plays Cock – Top 10 Worst TV Programmes]
22 August 2006
[comment] Charlie Brooker’s Columns on Comment is Free — On Dark Matter: ‘There are millions of people who essentially consist of dark matter; unknowable swaths of the population I have never encountered and will never understand. People who watch Emmerdale, for example. Emmerdale is Britain’s third most popular soap opera – second, actually, when EastEnders is having an off day. It attracts something in the region of 5 million viewers, which means approximately one in 12 Brits regularly tunes in. Yet I’ve never actually met anyone who watches it.’ [via linkbunnies.org]
11 August 2006
[tags: Blogs, TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on Random Acts of Reality on ITV’s London News]
6 August 2006
[soundboard] Curb Your Enthusiasm Soundboard: ‘I might be losing a testicle.’
21 July 2006
[funny] A New Pope — a great viral video from Adam Buxton … ‘Coverage Of A Sci-Fi Ceremony In A Galaxy Far, Far Away…’ [via jwz]
11 July 2006
[bb] Meanwhile, in the Big Brother House… ‘After winning the tennis task, the house is furnished with lots of alcohol and a small sense of drunken bonhomie fills the air. “I know!” shouts Mikey, “Let’s play Truth or Dare!” “Yes! What a great idea!” shouts everyone else. There must be a box on the Big Brother application form that says: “Despite being over the age of 12, do you still think it’s a really good idea to play any drinking game with a title like Spin the Bottle/Ten Minutes in the Closet/Bap-Grope/Touch the Snake, or any other party game that will no doubt result in someone needing 72-hour emergency contraception? Tick yes or no.”‘
2 July 2006
[wikipedia] My Wikipedia Contrail: Richard Belzer — random cast look-up during Law & Order: Special Victims Unit … ‘Belzer and Henry Winkler (most notably the Fonz on Happy Days) are cousins.’
[photos] On D’Israeli’s Flickr photostream: A Plug Cyberman.
30 June 2006
[comics] Alan Moore TV interview from 1987 — watch young Alan Moore flipping his hair back all the time as Gaz Top interviews him about Swamp Thing and plugs the recently released (at the time) Watchmen.
29 June 2006
[wikipedia] My Wikipedia Contrail: Seinfeld … Jason Alexander on George: ‘…the true root of [George’s] character was realized upon a conversation between Alexander and David earlier on in the series, in which Alexander questions a script saying, “This could never happen to anyone and even if it did, no human being would react like this” to which David replied, “What do you mean? This happened to me once and this is exactly how I reacted!”‘
26 June 2006
[tv] Mr Noseybonk in the Greenhouse — kids TV in the 80’s. I’d completly forgotten about Mr Noseybonk. Probably for the best… [via Venusberg]
20 June 2006
[bb7] Grace Dent’s Big Brother Blog  — well written blog about Big Brother from the Radio Times … ‘Mikey goes to bed clutching a photo. Instead of sweet nothings and a peachy bum, Mikey is lulled to sleep by the sound of Glyn vigorously excavating his right nostril and dislodging phlegm.’
3 June 2006
[tv] BBGossip.com — one stop shop for Big Brother updates, gossip and chat.
1 June 2006
[telly] Paul Daniels’ eBay Transactions — a blog forensically tracking Paul’s activities on eBay … ‘On April 26th 2006, Paul Daniels purchased a book for only 22p! This has got to be one of Paul’s best ebay experiences ever. So, he paid 88p for postage taking the total to £1.10 and the book looks pretty ropey… it’s a 1964 pot boiler called Jealousy…’ [via Mr Biggs]
31 May 2006
[tags: Tech, TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on How to Convert TV Series DVD’s to DivX/Xvid]
[oil] Rob Newman’s History of Oil — 45 minutes long but well worth it … ‘Rob Newman gets to grips with the wars and politics of the last hundred years – but rather than adhering to the history we were fed at school, he places oil centre stage.’ (Also mentions Peak Oil and gaylord tennis).
27 May 2006
[bb] Charlie Brooker on Big Brother: ‘Of course, there’s one bit of knowledge Shahbaz can comfort himself with: whatever his faults, at least he isn’t Sezer. Sezer: yuk. Just what we need on our screens: a pint-sized, pixel-eyed, monotone, priapic, hair-gelled rodent, so in love with himself he probably masturbates to videos of himself masturbating. And it’s misplaced adoration…’
23 May 2006
[bb] Diamond Geezer nicely sums up the contestants on Big Brother 7. … On Shahbaz: ‘unemployable flirt. camp tactile nightmare. hysterical egomaniac.’
10 May 2006
[business] What does Amstrad actually do? … ‘[Paul Tulip], who said of himself, “I think I’m brilliant”, had not exactly done scrupulous research before going on the show. Quizzed on air about what Amstrad actually does, he replied with his usual stirring confidence. “Computers.” “Amstrad doesn’t actually make computers now,” came the reply. “They distribute them,” Paul tried, gamely. “They don’t.”‘
26 April 2006
[bbc] BBC Programme Catalogue — the BBC’s Infax programme information catalogue available on the Internet … ‘Details of 946,614 BBC radio & TV programmes, dating back 75 years.’
11 April 2006
[tv] Deal or No Deal Noel Edmonds Figure Playset — for sale on Ebay. … ‘Remember folks this is a one of a kind auction! Now deal or no deal!’ [via Feeling Listless]
9 April 2006
[tv] Rik Mayall – This Much I know … ‘After my quad-bike accident I was dead for five days. Jesus was only dead for three, so I beat him – 17 April 1998 was the day I was sent back from heaven. I remember waking up from the coma and there were four nurses wrestling with me, ramming a thingy up my knob. That’s quite a good memory, actually.’
31 March 2006
[24] A Random Fact About Jack Bauer … ‘Jack Bauer was once charged with attempted murder in Los Angeles County, but the judge dropped all charges because Jack Bauer never “attempts” murder.’
[tags: 24, TV][ permalink][ Comments Off on Random Facts About Jack Bauer]
21 March 2006
[soundboard] IT Crowd Soundboard: ‘Computers Broken.’
13 March 2006
[tv] The Bunglebrot Set … stare into infinity with the face of Bungle from Rainbow. [via Qwghlm]
9 March 2006
[tv] Deal or No Deal Fanatics — weblog covering Noel Edmunds popular new gameshow on Channel 4 … ‘Over weeks of watching DOND it has become clear to me that those who attach emotions and dreams to the success of their play, seem to fair less well compared to those who can remain detached and unemotional. This reminded me of a couple of texts I read many years ago, one by Sun Wu, the other by Shinmen Musashi…’ [via Feeling Listless]
17 February 2006
[tv] Buffy, Abridged — Seven Series of Buffy crammed into three minutes… [via Pete’s Linklog]
8 February 2006
[comics] Mutants in Mega City One Video — a video of Carl and Suggs from Madness performing as the Fink Brothers from Judge Dredd. Contains bits of the video for the song plus a confused appearance by them on a Saturday morning kids TV program called Saturday Starship circa 1985.
28 January 2006
[tv] Forensic criminology, the ZX Spectrum Way — how did the sound of the loading screen from Sabre Wulf get into CSI: Miami? … ‘Their expensive new XRF machine appears to be a Sinclair Spectrum making tape loading noises. But as if that’s not geeky enough… The combined forces of comp.sys.sinclair have identified the data in question as the loading screen to Sabre Wulf by Ultimate.’
18 January 2006
[politics] Day 13 … and Things aren’t going to Plan in the House — Simon Hoggart on George Galloway … ‘Take the scenes last week when he pretended to be a cat, licking imaginary cream from the cupped hands of Rula Lenska, while she murmured to him “here pussy, pussy, pussy, yes, ooh, little pussy … you’ve got cream all over your whiskers!” (In the words of the old Grolsch lager ad, “Stop! This porno film is not ready yet!”) You can be sure that episode will never be forgotten, and every time Mr Galloway rises to repeat his grand denunciation of George Bush and Tony Blair, he will be met with a chorus of miaows.’
10 January 2006
[funny] David Hasselhoff is the AntiChrist … ‘He has even less musical talent than John Tesh… His television shows are unwatchable… and yet He’s one of the world’s most popular stars… how has He done it? I submit David Hasselhoff is the AntiChrist and I have the proof…’
|
