March 2, 2005 by dafyd
If only:
A Making-Of trailer for the new Wallace and Gromit film – coming out in October 2005… can’t wait!
Heh – lip-synching chubby American. Always good for a laugh. Obviously 2005′s Star Wars Kid…
And finally for today – a Flash presentation examining Italy’s relationship with the EU. Absolutely incredibly brilliant!
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February 19, 2005 by dafyd
What’s with the whole updating craze? Just look at what Warner Brothers are doing to Bugs Bunny for a new show called “Loonatics”:
The show features new versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, the Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner and Lola Bunny (the newest of the characters, who was introduced in the 1996 Michael Jordan movie “Space Jam”).
For “Loonatics,” the six characters are being projected 700 years into the future, given superpowers, and outfitted in tight-fitting, slenderizing space gear.
Apparently, falling anvils and exploding cigars are no longer enough to keep kids 6 to 11 years old entertained.*
Worse of all, some cartoony executive chap said in reponse to criticism that, “these are cartoons. Lighten up! They’re fun and the existence of one doesn’t preclude the existence of another.” No clue…
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February 18, 2005 by dafyd
Why, oh why, have Nestle decided to stop selling Smarties in tubes? It’s as if Terry’s decided that making Chocolate Oranges round was too expensive, and started selling them as cubes. Or Cadbury’s got fed up with Creme Eggs, and started making Creme Nuggets, or something. I’m disgusted.
I mean, just look at the new ‘hexatube’:
It looks really, really naff. The tubes are what Smarties are famous for – I remember getting a tube of Smarties when I swam my first 5 metres at school*. And these new hexatubes don’t have the letters on top – again, something that will always be associated with Smarties.
Most importantly, though, I doubt you’ll be able to use the new hexatubes as blowpipes, firing the top at anyone who happened to be in range.
I propose a complete boycott of all Nestle products – I’ll suggest it to the DSU. Oh, wait – they already do that. Drat.
*Rewarding exercise with chocolate – somehow, I doubt they still do that after all the fuss with Cadbury’s last year…
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February 11, 2005 by dafyd
It’s absolutely tipping it down at the moment… and the corrugated iron roof that the builders* have constructed outside our room is SO VERY NOISY.
There are three different “projects” that they’re doing around Castle at the moment – as far as I can tell there are no more than 5 workmen on site at any one time. They have a huge budget – ‘cos the University seems to have more money than sense – so they’ve got all these “Electric Ladders”, which means they don’t even need to carry anything. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen the Fawlty Towers episode with “O’Reilly Men”… they are exactly like them!
*I use the term loosely, as they don’t actually appear to be doing any building** at the moment.
**or anything else, actually. Aah, the great British workman. Reminds me of a Max Boyce song…
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February 8, 2005 by dafyd
Super Bowl Telecast Still Draws Protests
Despite complaints that Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show was bland and forgettable, the FCC received 33 complaints Monday from viewers who either objected to Paul McCartney’s rendition of “Get Back,” which contains a reference to “California grass,” or were upset by the content of some commercials. Those who complained about the ads deprecated one for GoDaddy.com (a web hosting company), featuring a young woman who almost bares a breast; ads for erectile dysfunction medication; and a scene in a spot featuring one member of the Queer Eye For the Straight Guy crew ogling a man.
(Incidentally, you can see all the Superbowl ads here, and a few of the banned ones here)
Paul McCartney cannot in any sense of the word be deemed offensive – certainly not in his set at the Superbowl. It was the very epitome of mediocrity…
If you (not Americans in general, just the 33 people with nothing better to do with their time than complain) find Paul McCartney or web hosting adverts offensive… don’t get me started on a long list of classic movies, plays and literature that would have to be banned for violence, sexual content or other ‘deviant’ behaviour.
America was founded on its principles of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. The McCartney (different one) witch-hunts in the 1950s were a dark time for those principles – and now it seems that such a witch-hunt is back to haunt the States. The fantastic thing about new technolog is that almost everything has an ‘off’ button – you can simply switch off ‘Saving Private Ryan’ if you find it too violent – and the warnings and disclaimers before and after broadcasts make it absolutely clear what you are going to see. You would need the intellect of a president gnat to watch something even after those repeated cautions and then complain that you found it offensive.
Live broadcasts are, by their very nature, live. Things do go wrong. Would you rather that the Superbowl was delayed by 20 minutes so a panel of lawyers and other ‘experts’ can check that everything is ‘suitable, wholesome family viewing’? Or would you rather watch 14 players kick the crap out of each other as it happens? You choose.
Incidentally, for those of you living in the UK – this organisation was responsible for almost all of the complaints about the Jerry Springer opera fiasco – in the process, drumming up one of the biggest audiences the BBC has ever had for an opera! Muppets.
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January 28, 2005 by dafyd
Even better: view the Annoying Thing movie in its full glory!
And read the story behind the Annoying Thing (for that is its name) at BBC News.
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January 23, 2005 by dafyd
Happy Mondays dancer Bez has won the third series of reality show Celebrity Big Brother.
He beat Blazin’ Squad rapper Kenzie and actress Brigitte Nielsen in the Channel 4 final on Sunday, winning £50,000.
Has anyone ever heard of Bez? Happy Mondays? Nope. Not me.
Blazin’ Squad – yep, I’ve heard of them. Couldn’t say anything about Kenzi, though. He must be one of these:
Couldn’t say which, though.
Brigitte Nielsen. Sylvester Stallone’s wife. Dunno anything else about her though. A quick search on the IMDb reveals that she has been in such blockbuster films as, umm, The Double 0 Kid and Snowboard Academy.
In fact, of all the so-called ‘celebrities’, the only ones I’d heard of were Germaine Greer and John Mc-something. Oh well.
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January 19, 2005 by dafyd
The New York Times has done a very good spoof advert about all those armbands that charities seems to be selling nowadays.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve come across yellow ones for Lance Armstrong’s cancer campaign (designed by Nike), blue anti-bullying ones, and white “Make Poverty History” ones (as featured on the Vicar of Dibley).
Now, I’m all for an innovative way to raise money for these important causes, especially if it gets them publicity at the same time. But there comes a point when it gets silly. There’s a reason that only Comic Relief uses Red Noses… it’s unique, and can be easily identified with the campaign. When loads of different campaigns launch the same gimmick at the same time… they all merge into one.
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January 3, 2005 by dafyd
At uni, where I’m supposed to be working hard, I managed to blog pretty much every day.
During the Christmas holidays, when I’m supposed to be relaxing and not doing (quite as much) work, I’ve blogged 4 times in a fortnight (or so)… and most of those have been short and about the same thing.
Why? Well, I’ve been back working at Waterstone’s for one thing. That’s been pretty hectic, and when I have actually been at home I’ve not really felt like doing too much.
Anyway, I’ve finished at Waterstone’s now, so things might get back to normal. I have a few projects to do before going back to uni (fixing a few computers, teaching people how to make websites, teaching parents how to use Excel, and a small matter of an essay), but that shouldn’t take up too much time.
On another note, I heard this week that one of my teachers from Nottingham High School, Mr Barry Duesbury (the Head of English), passed away on Wednesday. I only really got to know him in the last two years of NHS, when he taught me in 6.1 and was my form master in 6.2. I think we got on fairly well… he always seemed quite happy to see me in Waterstone’s – in fact, he was in only last week. The funeral’s on Friday – I might go, if any other of my ex-classmates go. We’ll see.
My deepest sympathies to his wife, Pam – and to the English department at the High School, who have lost a fairly major cog in their machine.
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December 9, 2004 by dafyd
Saw this story on the IMDb – it’s a pity, I think:
Fans of the Philip Pullman novel His Dark Materials have expressed outrage over news that director-screenwriter Chris Weitz (American Pie) has removed references to God and the Catholic church in the movie. Weitz told a website set up by fans of the novel, bridgetothestars.net, that New Line Cinema, the company producing the film, has “expressed worry about the possibility of perceived anti-religiosity.” He said that the studio had told him that if the references remained, the project would become “unviable financially.” He remarked that he had discussed the matter with Pullman, who had told him that the role of the Authority (God) in his book, could be transformed into “any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual.” The religious villains in the film, he said, “may appear in more subtle guises.” He added: “you will probably not hear of the ‘Church.’” One fan posted a message on the website calling the changes a “blatant cop-out to the Bible Belt of America.”
If they have the courage to make the books into a film, they should really have the courage to leave a major theme in. Oh well. Let’s see what happens.
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