TV
Thursday June 3rd, 2004: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
It seems there is hope for the British public after all as audience figures for Big Brother 5 halved after the launch night, maybe the last ever Friends episode had something to do with Friday night's figures too. I admit I watched the first BB and that I enjoyed it .. but the subsequent shows have attracted a different breed of person to the first, out went real people, in came the social parasites seeking their 15 minutes of fame and the lucrative spin-off TV 'career'.
Saturday February 28th, 2004: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
I'm not joking when I say that today I discovered a reality tv show where the contestants are all former reality tv show contestant .. recursive reality television !! Back to Reality, as it's imaginitively titled can be seen on the home of quality programming -- Channel five. How did I find out about this show you may wonder? My BBC Daily e-mail told me that Reality's Goody collapses on set and I just couldnt' resist the click during a lull at work.
Saturday October 18th, 2003: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Fletcher lives!! I hope this doesn't turn out like the latest Fools & horses did.
Sunday September 28th, 2003: Personal TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
I was up in time to watch the new He-Man cartoon on ITV1 again this week. It's really impressively done .. even better than the 80's original, and you don't hear that said about the 80's cartoon remakes often -- Transformers and Zoids being the biggest disapointments, having gone down the Pokemon gotta collect 'em all path.
He-Man is twenty years old ... that makes me feel very old indeed!
Wednesday September 3rd, 2003: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
"I consider it a piece of performance art, and for me the ultimate truth," -- now I remember (like I ever forgot) why I despise David Blaine - he's a complete tosser. His latest stunt (as I'm sure you haven't managed to remain blissfully unaware of) is to stay in a small perspex box suspended above the Thames without food for 44 days.
In what some people would consider a desperate act of self-publicity, Blaine - asked to perform a trick - cut his ear with a penknife, left the room, and then showed his 'wounded' left ear to the gathered journalists. The ever observant BBC remarked that "he did not allow any detailed, close-up inspection ... the event could have been stage-managed. Blaine himself did not comment".
Blain wants to be remembered as "the greatest showman of all time" -- with a bit of luck he'll die trying ... now that would be a neat trick.
Tuesday August 26th, 2003: TV World News
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
If it ever get's off the ground 'the BBC Creative Archive' could be the best thing to hit the internet for a long time. Quite how on Earth they plan to fund the bandwidth required by such a project I do not know -- as long as they don't plan on sticking another £50 on the license fee.
Today is an important day in Iraq -- the number of American deaths since the 'end of major combat operations' on 1 May has surpassed the number killed during the war - 139 compared to 138.
My colleagues, and even myself, mumbling coyly by our couches, all asserted that my problem was absolutely normal: I hated myself and the world because I had failed to face and accept the limitations of my self and of life. In literature this refusal is called romanticism; in psychology, neurosis. The assumption is that a limited and bored self is the unavoidable, all-embracing norm. And i was beginning to agree until, after a few months of wallowing in depression (I furtively purchased a .38 revolver and nine cartridges), I came washing up on the shore of Zen. - Luke Rhinehart (The Dice Man) Friday August 8th, 2003: Football TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
HALLELUIAH!!
They were the most depressing group of people Yossarian had ever been with. They were always in high spirits. They laughed at everything. The called him 'Yo-Yo' jocularly and came in tipsy late at night and woke him up with their clumsy, bumping. giggling efforts to be quiet, then bombarded him with asinine shouts of hilarious good-fellowship when he sat up cursing to complain. He wanted to massacre them each time they did. They reminded him of Donald Duck's nephews. They were afraid of Yossarian and persecuted him incessantly with nagging generosity and with their exasperating insistence on doing small favours for him. They were reckless, puerile, congenial, naive, presumptuous, deferential and rambunctious. They were dumb; they had no complaints. - Joseph Heller (Catch-22) Tuesday July 29th, 2003: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
I took a look at the bullet points for the BBC annual report .. hmm, by "widest range of quality programmes" they must define 'programmes' as 'home improvement, gardening, and other reality based shows', because there has been hardly anything but those 'shows' on any of the terrestrial channels recently. I suppose it's a lot harder to make a show that requires some form of imagination, acting ability, script writing etc. isn't it?
As for BBC2 bringing "intelligence, sophistication and innovation", are they allowed to just make this stuff up?
BBC Annual Report 2002/2003:
- A strong year for BBC ONE, now Britain's most popular TV channel, with the widest range of programmes of any broadcaster.
- BBC TWO successfully brought intelligence, sophistication and innovation to a diverse audience.
Monday June 30th, 2003: Football TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Some people don't seem to see the irony of a ten minute slot on a (prime-time) news program discussing whether (and eventually agreeing that) there is too much coverage of David Beckham in the media!!
BBC Sport's funny old game round-up for this month points out that "... Now there is a new role to tempt them [aspiring journalists] - that of official David Beckham correspondant. The Daily Mirror has pioneered this highbrow position, appointing Stephen Moyes as the world's first full-time reporter on the activities of Becks.
Thursday June 12th, 2003: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Sometimes I worry for this country ... seriously, do people not have bigger concerns than the educational path of a fictional character in Coronation Street? Clearly not.
Oxford University says it is trying hard to encourage applications from teenagers such as the fictional Todd. - Angela Harrison (Soap storyline gets a black mark, BBC News Report 12 Jun 2003) Tuesday June 10th, 2003: Music TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Bought Radiohead's long awaited new album on the way into work -- so it made me a few half-hours late, but life is all about priorities! I listened to it all day long while working; "Where I end and you begin" is my early favourite track on the album, but I won't be jumping to any decisions about the album until I've listened to it a hundred times over the next month, at least.
Today was a great day for British television: Celebrity Big Brother will not be back on our screens: "I'm sceptical how different and interesting you can make Celebrity Big Brother." - Channel 4 Chief Executive, Mark Thompson. Also, there is one less show 'starring' Vernon "the most annoying man on TV" Kay -- "Boy's and Girls" has been cancelled, I can't say whether this is a good thing or not, because I never even noticed it was on. From the title I presume it was some horrendous dating gameshow, something like the orginal MTV one, only without Jenny McCarthy!
Sunday July 15th, 2001: TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
I'm watching way too much Big Brother recently. Watching Paul & Helen flirt is painful, just get on with it for Gods sake.
"Dying is not sad - it's living when you're not happy that's sad" - Clara, The Torture Garden (Octave Mirbeau) Wednesday June 20th, 2001: Personal TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Finally finished listening to my mp3'd Radiohead collection at work - all 170+ tracks. So for a change of pace I chose something a little more cheery ... Black Sabbath. Finished off a lot of loose ends during the day, which was nice. Gavin's leaving this Friday, makes me realise how little time I've got left here - very sad.
"Our Manics in Havana" is showing again on Channel 4 tomorrow (at 12:05 am) you'd be a fool to miss it.
Hursley needs it's share of axe-murderers. - Rick (on my chances of getting back into IBM after uni) Friday May 4th, 2001: Personal TV
Last Updated: Tuesday June 19th, 2007 04:43 PM
Hashes of arrays sussed thanks to Andrew, nearly finished Perl script to generate my bookmarks section based on an IE Favourites Folder. It's working, just needs a few finishing touches.
Tuned in to TOTP, hoping for a decent number one this week, S-club 7 (sincerest apologies if the "-" is in the wrong place) had the unsurprisingly dire number one this week, and even worse than that; one s-clubber has grown his hair to the length and style that I am so close to. Major dilemma here, as you can imagine - can I really face accusations of copying his "style", even though I have been growing my hair for the past 6 months to get it that way? The attraction of the look was that it wasn't actually a look, probably better described as a "mess".
Missed Trigger Happy TV, which pissed me off immensely, watched Frasier, and that was about it.
Andrew: You're awful!
Me: Yes, but I'm awfully good at it | 
Thursday June 3rd, 2004