Saturday 7 March 2009
The Rescue
This is a meek (by Doctor Who standards) 2 parter which basically retools the show after Susan left and was replaced by a substitute grandaughter figure in the form of Vicki. Its meeksness is also its strength as the show expses the very core of the show, a wandering time traveller comes across a bad situation and tries to make it better. In this case it's orphaned Vicki who's menaced by the nefarious Koquillion while she has to look after the wounded Bennett. She meets Barbara, then Ian and the Doctor and slowly comes to trust them despite a few false starts. The Doctor deduces the truth about Koquillion and he's consigned to a grisly ending before the Doctor offers Vicki a lift around the universe. Vicki jumps at the chance and so the TARDis leaves with a new teenage girl on board to get them into danger and mayhem in the future. It's a wonderfully written character piece that shows us who the three existing main characters are again while also showing us the new girl and letting us see her strengths and weaknesses. So it's good that the story's plot does not overshadow this too much otherwise the whole purpose of the story would have been wasted. Perhaps not the first choice of the action/adventure fan its still a good story especially if you prefer drama with a theatrical bent. This is one story that would easily adapt well as a stage play, throw in a few songs by Elton John and you could have a smash hit musical!
Heroes will be back!
Sci-fi TV show Heroes will return for a fourth season! This is great news. Heroes and BSG are my two fave US tv shows at the moment :)
Friday 6 March 2009
Got my deely boppers ready for next Friday...
...cos it's comic relief and I want to do something to show my support and to be honest I do not like the new red noses, they're bloody hideous!
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
The 2 part finale of season 1 of Doctor Who couldn't have started more light heartedly. With the Doctor inside the Big Brother house! Rose gets involved in The Weakest Link and then Captain Jack gets naked in front of billions of viewers (except sadly not any of the Doctor Who viewers). However things take a turn for the worse as it become apparent that game contestants are being murdered for the entertainment of the viewing audience. The shock revelation of the Dalek fleet and the Doctor's promise to rescue Rose and defeat the Daleks is perhaps the coolest moment of the year. The second part delivers on the first part Doctor's promise as he quickly rescues Rose and Jack kills a Dalek in the process. The Daleks attack and start massacaring everyone and the Doctor finds he cannot bring himself to annihilate his enemies. It's up to Rose to defeat them with the power of the universe inside of her head she turns the Daleks to dust and even brings Captain Jack back to life. The Doctor saves Rose but at the cost of his own life and Rose is forced to watch the Doctor burn with the fires of regeneration leaving a new man in the TARDIS, a new Doctor...
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 12
all good things...well until Easter anyway...
Pete (Feature Length Version) 3/10 - It's a mishmas of about ten small ideas thrown together and sellotaped together to try and pretend to be an episode but the mess just doesn't work. The individual bits are good but the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts and the shambling monstocity is best forgotten. The Prisoners vs. Guards basketball match is the highlight of the episode and it occurs near the start so it gives you an idea how bad I thought the rest of the episode is.
Only The Good... 9/10 - Finally they manage to do something fresh and new with the new format and it's to get rid of it! The crew abandon Red Dwarf in droves and Rimmer goes to a mirror universe to find a cure to a virus that's eating the ship but ultimatley fails but the best bit is when he knees death in the groin! The rest of the episode is a delight too, the period gags Lister has Kryten play on Kochanski are outrageously funny. Kryten's revenge is good too and Cat trying to get himself hospitalised is brilliant. Why couldn't they write more episodes like this?
Pete (Feature Length Version) 3/10 - It's a mishmas of about ten small ideas thrown together and sellotaped together to try and pretend to be an episode but the mess just doesn't work. The individual bits are good but the whole is not greater than the sum of its parts and the shambling monstocity is best forgotten. The Prisoners vs. Guards basketball match is the highlight of the episode and it occurs near the start so it gives you an idea how bad I thought the rest of the episode is.
Only The Good... 9/10 - Finally they manage to do something fresh and new with the new format and it's to get rid of it! The crew abandon Red Dwarf in droves and Rimmer goes to a mirror universe to find a cure to a virus that's eating the ship but ultimatley fails but the best bit is when he knees death in the groin! The rest of the episode is a delight too, the period gags Lister has Kryten play on Kochanski are outrageously funny. Kryten's revenge is good too and Cat trying to get himself hospitalised is brilliant. Why couldn't they write more episodes like this?
Thursday 5 March 2009
Aid agencies ousted as Bashir charged
Aid agencies including Oxfam GB and Save the Children UK have been expelled by Sudan following charges against President Omar al-Bashir. Oxfam confirmed its licence to work in the north of the country has been revoked and said it was appealing the decision. The expulsions follow a decision by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on war crimes charges in Darfur.
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 11
Back in the Red (Xtended) 7/10 - All three parts edited together with some extra unseen bits to make it even better and it needs it, the tissue thin plot needs all the characterisation it can get, because unlike VII which sometimes focused on plot at the expense of the jokes (which I liked) VIII focuses on the jokes at the expense of the plot. The plot here is the crew are arrested, put on trial and found innocent of that crime but guilty of another, it could all be done in just one episode! However it would lose a lot of the cool jokes in the process, like Cat and Blue Midget dancing, the Duane Dibley gag, the claymation bit and the multiple escape attempts could have been cobbled together into just one. It gets high marks for the gags, not the rest.
Cassandra 6/10 - It tries hard to be a cool story ala Aliens but it fails badly as it quickly returns to Red Dwarf on autopilot. Kochanski being seduced by pre-determinism theory is the only real highlight as the rest of the story is hardly new. Cassandra herself comes across as a mix between Queeg and Dr. Landstrom and not in a good way.
Krytie TV 5/10 - Now they're not even bothering as we get a weird mix of reality TV show and prank show ala Jeremy Beadle. The appeal over guitar strings is the only half way interesting idea and is the cause of all the good jokes in the story, and there's nowhere near enough of them.
Cassandra 6/10 - It tries hard to be a cool story ala Aliens but it fails badly as it quickly returns to Red Dwarf on autopilot. Kochanski being seduced by pre-determinism theory is the only real highlight as the rest of the story is hardly new. Cassandra herself comes across as a mix between Queeg and Dr. Landstrom and not in a good way.
Krytie TV 5/10 - Now they're not even bothering as we get a weird mix of reality TV show and prank show ala Jeremy Beadle. The appeal over guitar strings is the only half way interesting idea and is the cause of all the good jokes in the story, and there's nowhere near enough of them.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
The Green Mile
I've been reading this book on and off for the last few days (in the little mini book form) It's certainly a very powerful book with lots of rich characterisation and deep attention to detail. There's a sense of resigned finality about the guards as they process their prisoners. The rituals of their duties comes across as interesting and it all leads up to the finale when they both break their little ways and stick to them as tightly as possible at the same time. The prisoners are all shown realistically, both have their good sides as well as their bad sides, except William Wharton (aka Billy the Kid) who either has no redeeming features or he goes out of his way to not let it show through. The Pres and The Chief are minor characters just there to show life before John Coffey arrived on the Green Mile. The three main prisoners are Delacroix, Coffey and Wharton and their lives and deaths feature the most heavily in the events of the books. There's a few minor sub plots that seem there just for added depth of character but slowly they become part of the main plot which is just genius writing. The story is one of sadness, despair, lonliness and isolation which suits a death row facility perfectly, and yet there's an innocence about the characters too because none of them are quite prepared for the whirlwind of destruction that is Billy the Kid even the seasoned guards are taken back by him a couple of times. It's one helluva book go and read it for yourselves...
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 10
Epideme 9/10 - A very interesting concept about a super-mutated artificial virus, especially with the current row over GM foods being forced on the public before any safety trials having been done. Dave should have argued for a symbiotic relationship with the virus as it would have bought him more time to find a cure. Although the Kochanski/Kryten 2 part cure does lead into a good cliffhanger ending and for once its not at the end of the season...
Nanarchy 10/10 - Following on from last week Kryten tries to give Lister an artificial arm with hilarious consequences and their eventual means of finding a cure leads them back to...Red Dwarf! But it's in the form of a small planetoid! Seeing Holly's face again is a great moment (although I wonder/worry if they're going to have any Holly at all in the forthcoming Back to Earth special) The story ends with the return of Red Dwarf for real although there maybe a little problem, or rather make that a big one...
Nanarchy 10/10 - Following on from last week Kryten tries to give Lister an artificial arm with hilarious consequences and their eventual means of finding a cure leads them back to...Red Dwarf! But it's in the form of a small planetoid! Seeing Holly's face again is a great moment (although I wonder/worry if they're going to have any Holly at all in the forthcoming Back to Earth special) The story ends with the return of Red Dwarf for real although there maybe a little problem, or rather make that a big one...
Tuesday 3 March 2009
the day the earth nearly stood still
An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday. 2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47 meters (68 and 152 feet) across, raced by at 1344 GMT on Monday, the Planetary Society and astronomers' blogs reported. The gap was just 72,000 kilometers (44,750 miles), or a fifth of the distance between Earth and the Moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said. The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30 1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles).
Lembit Öpik has been calling for a space watch programme for years now, this is the sort of thing it would have found and been able to deal with had it been on a terminal impact course, lucky for us it wasn't becuase we cou;dn't have stopped it...
Lembit Öpik has been calling for a space watch programme for years now, this is the sort of thing it would have found and been able to deal with had it been on a terminal impact course, lucky for us it wasn't becuase we cou;dn't have stopped it...
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 9
Duct Soup 10/10 - Wonderful, wonderful episode, it really goes into characterisation mode and not a spare second of script is wasted. We find out more about some of the characters in this episode than we did in the last 6 seasons! Kochanski's childhood, the rusty gate, Lister's claustrophobia, squeeky Gibson, Kryten's jealousy and even Cat's mild sociopathy! Plus Kryten's star wars joke about Kochanski's attire is funny but not as funny as Kochanski's complaints about men (because they're good observations) and them watching her knickers spin dry!
Blue 9/10 - The remember that Rimmer guy episode, but it's much more memorable for two things: that kiss and that song. The comet scene at the start is ok because it leads to Cat's preening gag and has the potato salad line too. The Rimmer Experience is just wet you knickers hilarious and the song is just outstandingly brilliant. The show only loses a point because of the medibay scene that somehow just seems to exist to perpetuate kryten's jealousy of Kochanski.
Beyond A Joke 8/10 - The big Kryten episode, yet there's far too much focus on the Gelfs and simulants that pull focus from Kryten and his green brother Abel. The T72 tank joke is brilliant and Jane Austin World is a great idea although Lister dressed as a priest is just bizarre! Despite its flaws and occasionally corny line the story is enjoyable and fun. Scuttling thing ala monkey wrench should be on every menu too.
Blue 9/10 - The remember that Rimmer guy episode, but it's much more memorable for two things: that kiss and that song. The comet scene at the start is ok because it leads to Cat's preening gag and has the potato salad line too. The Rimmer Experience is just wet you knickers hilarious and the song is just outstandingly brilliant. The show only loses a point because of the medibay scene that somehow just seems to exist to perpetuate kryten's jealousy of Kochanski.
Beyond A Joke 8/10 - The big Kryten episode, yet there's far too much focus on the Gelfs and simulants that pull focus from Kryten and his green brother Abel. The T72 tank joke is brilliant and Jane Austin World is a great idea although Lister dressed as a priest is just bizarre! Despite its flaws and occasionally corny line the story is enjoyable and fun. Scuttling thing ala monkey wrench should be on every menu too.
Monday 2 March 2009
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 8
Rimmerworld 6/10 - It's got some great gags in it but everything between the funnies is rather plain and quite dull. The first clone of Rimmer is quite funny to watch (and with a yummy bum) but just not really gripping.
Out of Time 8/10 - Much more funny as first we're led to think Lister is a robot, then things get really strange! Then the older versions of the crew turn up and Lister is doing a cool Morbius impression. Then the ending's upon us with all its shocking glory. Still it has its faults, if anythign the story could do with a longer run time to properly explore the unreality bubbles more, to really go into the time paradox in greater detail and also to give Rimmer's rare heroics just a little extra oomph because it's so rare.
Tikka to Ride 7/10 - The extended version is much better imo because the original story just lacked a few things, like a beginning and an end. Here we have a glorious CGI intro showing Starbug in deepest space. The actual story is quite interesting but not especially so with too much time spent wandering about doing very little, but its for a reason as it builds up to the cannibal scene. I don't know why Cat's so worried, as he's not human so it's ok for him to dine on BBQ human.
Identity Within 5/10 - Despite it being abily performed by Chris Barrie this lost episode is not exactly the world's greatest story. There's much of it that's quite boring and even unfunny. Perhaps much of it would have been ironed out with a final redraft before it was made but it was passed over because it was too epic, apparently. Cat as the central figure is a great idea but he deserves a story that really lets him grow and stretch his character, here he's usued as the comedy sidekick when he's supposed to be the hero!
Stoke Me A Clipper... 9/10 - Ace is back and he's more Bond than ever! What a guy! The idea that 'our' Rimmer could replace Ace is brilliant. Rimmer trying to imitate Ace is just hilarious as he really fails to carry it off with any conviction. But in the end he decides to give it a go anyway, although given how many Ace's had died since they last met that may not be a wise move.
Ouroboros 9/10 - Rimmer's gone but Kochanski's back! Sporting a new face and taste in clothes she reenters Dave's life like a pain in the tooth. It's a great story that really sets up the character dynamics for the rest of the season. Lister loves Kris. Kryten's totally jealous. Kris despises everyone and Cat likes Kris more than Rimmer but not as much as Lister. The alternate Lister is pretty cool but rather timid, I have no idea what Kochanski sees in him, I prefer alternate Cat he's much more handsome.
Out of Time 8/10 - Much more funny as first we're led to think Lister is a robot, then things get really strange! Then the older versions of the crew turn up and Lister is doing a cool Morbius impression. Then the ending's upon us with all its shocking glory. Still it has its faults, if anythign the story could do with a longer run time to properly explore the unreality bubbles more, to really go into the time paradox in greater detail and also to give Rimmer's rare heroics just a little extra oomph because it's so rare.
Tikka to Ride 7/10 - The extended version is much better imo because the original story just lacked a few things, like a beginning and an end. Here we have a glorious CGI intro showing Starbug in deepest space. The actual story is quite interesting but not especially so with too much time spent wandering about doing very little, but its for a reason as it builds up to the cannibal scene. I don't know why Cat's so worried, as he's not human so it's ok for him to dine on BBQ human.
Identity Within 5/10 - Despite it being abily performed by Chris Barrie this lost episode is not exactly the world's greatest story. There's much of it that's quite boring and even unfunny. Perhaps much of it would have been ironed out with a final redraft before it was made but it was passed over because it was too epic, apparently. Cat as the central figure is a great idea but he deserves a story that really lets him grow and stretch his character, here he's usued as the comedy sidekick when he's supposed to be the hero!
Stoke Me A Clipper... 9/10 - Ace is back and he's more Bond than ever! What a guy! The idea that 'our' Rimmer could replace Ace is brilliant. Rimmer trying to imitate Ace is just hilarious as he really fails to carry it off with any conviction. But in the end he decides to give it a go anyway, although given how many Ace's had died since they last met that may not be a wise move.
Ouroboros 9/10 - Rimmer's gone but Kochanski's back! Sporting a new face and taste in clothes she reenters Dave's life like a pain in the tooth. It's a great story that really sets up the character dynamics for the rest of the season. Lister loves Kris. Kryten's totally jealous. Kris despises everyone and Cat likes Kris more than Rimmer but not as much as Lister. The alternate Lister is pretty cool but rather timid, I have no idea what Kochanski sees in him, I prefer alternate Cat he's much more handsome.
Sunday 1 March 2009
Things I plan to buy before my birthday
1. A suspender belt
I own lots of regular lingerie already but a sussie belt is just totally exudes feminine chic and I so want to wear one to not only see what i look in one but to help me feel more feminine and sexully alluring to men (for when I eventually want a boyfriend - as it's not fair on them to make them wait for me to complete my long journey to womanhood)
2. A 12 inch dildo
I've masturbated with smaller dildos and vibes but I really want to feel a foot long whopper inside of my body and I don't want to get another year older before I find out what it feels like to be fucked by one :)
3. Heeled Boots
I own plenty of heeled shoes and flats but I don't have a pair of heeled boots and i really want to own a pair of them.
4. Some girly glasses
My glasses are pretty unisex but I want some that are more feminine and girly to give me that little extra help so I pass even better.
I own lots of regular lingerie already but a sussie belt is just totally exudes feminine chic and I so want to wear one to not only see what i look in one but to help me feel more feminine and sexully alluring to men (for when I eventually want a boyfriend - as it's not fair on them to make them wait for me to complete my long journey to womanhood)
2. A 12 inch dildo
I've masturbated with smaller dildos and vibes but I really want to feel a foot long whopper inside of my body and I don't want to get another year older before I find out what it feels like to be fucked by one :)
3. Heeled Boots
I own plenty of heeled shoes and flats but I don't have a pair of heeled boots and i really want to own a pair of them.
4. Some girly glasses
My glasses are pretty unisex but I want some that are more feminine and girly to give me that little extra help so I pass even better.
Psychedelic fish 'is new species'
A brightly-coloured fish which bounces along the seabed has been hailed as a new species by scientists - who have dubbed it "psychedelica". Research published in the US scientific journal Copeia says the fish was spotted by scuba divers off the island of Ambon in eastern Indonesia. It belongs to the frogfish family, but its looks are unique even among its peers, the journal reported. The question with this new discovery is how it went unnoticed for so long. The new psychedelica frogfish is completely covered in swirling concentric stripes - white and blue on a peach background - radiating out from its aqua-coloured eyes. It has a broad flat face, thick fleshy cheeks and chin, and eyes that look forward like a human's. The fish was spotted by divers off the coast of Ambon island last year.
Red Dwarf Marathon pt. 7
Psirens 7/10 - A reboot to the series with the action moved out of Red Dwarf entirely and now located on the much smaller and claustrophobic Starbug, although it has some new sets and a complete redesign to compensate. The brief return of Kochanski is as nothing to the sight of Lister french kissing a Psiren!
Legion 7/10 - Another by-the-book story, the minimal plot is hidden behind a great new innovation: Rimmer's new hardlight body. He quickly becomes the butt of some very physical food gags, ie he's platsered with food!
Gunmen of the Apocalypse 8/10 - It won an Emmy but it's not the best episode ever made, that said it's not awful either, it's really enjoyable but somehow all the disperate elements feel too forced together and the story never quite knows what it wants to be about.
Emohawk - Polymorph II 9/10 - A triple sequel! There's the sequel to the classic episode Polymorph, A return of Ace Rimmer from Dimension Jump and Duane Dibbley from Back to Reality. The stuff with the GELF's almost seem superfulous as the action is set mostly in Starbug. Ace's plan to kill himself and Duane to save Lister & Kryten is very funny too in a horrifying sort of way.
Legion 7/10 - Another by-the-book story, the minimal plot is hidden behind a great new innovation: Rimmer's new hardlight body. He quickly becomes the butt of some very physical food gags, ie he's platsered with food!
Gunmen of the Apocalypse 8/10 - It won an Emmy but it's not the best episode ever made, that said it's not awful either, it's really enjoyable but somehow all the disperate elements feel too forced together and the story never quite knows what it wants to be about.
Emohawk - Polymorph II 9/10 - A triple sequel! There's the sequel to the classic episode Polymorph, A return of Ace Rimmer from Dimension Jump and Duane Dibbley from Back to Reality. The stuff with the GELF's almost seem superfulous as the action is set mostly in Starbug. Ace's plan to kill himself and Duane to save Lister & Kryten is very funny too in a horrifying sort of way.
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