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April 30, 2004
Labyrinth
Oh excitement! Jeremy has just sent me a pressie of her old tape of Labyrinth (she'd bought it on dvd for herself.) this is great -I get to see Jareth the goblin King (Bowie) oooh-eeer playing with his magic balls. (Suddenly channelling Frankie Howerd:) Oooh-err Missus, no.
To think that only this morning I was watching an old interview with Bowie (back when he was celebrating his 50th birthday) on the Performance channel.
by groc at 02:09 PM | Comments (2)
colour
I'm still watching the 'Lost in Space' repeats. The show is in proper colour now not colorized -the give-away was that if anything the colours are much more garshily vivid and unnatural-looking than they were before. It's great, but oh dear god -so so very very much orange velour.... eeek.
by groc at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
Ripped off
Well I’m deeply narked. Tonight (just after 10.30pm-ish) I stomped off to my regular local Off Licence to buy some wine. (As you do.) So there I bought myself a cheap Villa Valentina Soave, a bag of Bobby’s cheesy curls (a Wotsits clone) snack and a weird sounding (but actually very nice) Nestles white chocolate fruit bar ‘Double Berry‘ -upon paying I was looking through my wallet to find only a set of twenty pound notes (not something you‘d forget easily is it?) - so despite my quiet internal reservations I handed over one of them to be then asked if I had 3p in change -which I happily gave over but then to be given only a £5 back in change - of course I protested and despite those protestations that I’d given him a £20 and because of that he made a show to me that his till didn’t have any twenty pound notes in it. (Obviously he didn’t go on to offer to show me his pockets or under the till or anywhere else he could have quickly hidden a £20 note. Begging the question of how can any business at that time of night could not have taken in even a single £20 note?).
Broken down:
4.49 soave
0.29 double berry
0.25 Bobby’s cheesy curls
5.03 total
Out of a twenty pound note and 3p I’d expect… oooh all of £15 back.
But because of my mild mannered, non-confrontational nature I ended up letting him get away with it. How could I prove otherwise? Not by the till. (Surely by now by law every shop till should have every detail of every transaction. This shop doesn't even give you a receipt.)
Bastard. I used to think that particular young man was nice…
Although he might have gained an extra £10 he's now lost all the money I used to spend in that shop every week on a regular basis. The twat.
But why do that? I’ve been a regular at that store ever since I moved here -I’ve spent a lot of money there over that time and would have happily to have continued to do so until this happened.
It’s exactly this sort of thing which makes me hate the whole concept of capitalism. When you get down to the whole cheating thing -it becomes totally self-defeating. But that's something for another post at another time...
by groc at 01:11 AM | Comments (5)
April 29, 2004
fun food
Omigwad! more Spongebob foodstuffs. I sooooo wanna live in ameriKa!
by groc at 10:20 PM | Comments (2)
coming to a Gameboy near you.
Eeeek, cooo, wow! Being able to watch SpongeBob (and other cartoons) on your Gameboy Advance/SP (I sooo still want one of those. The Advance is a bit of of a pup - because it's screen is way too dark to be seen properly, but the SP screen is lovely and bright.) Yes I know you could get a handheld DVD player -and I'd like to have one of those too. But although they've gotten a lot cheaper recently -this is a cute cheap gadget thing, and cute cheap gadget things rule. I've long dreamed (long before they even had G3 phones) about being able to watch little movies on handheld PDAs. Now it's all coming true...
I'd like one of those Gameboy TV tuners too - but they've quite expensive for what they are.
Bonus link: Dress as your favourite SpongeBob character. (I bet that David Archontic will be having pervy plushy fantasties over this.)
by groc at 03:57 PM | Comments (1)
KAZ
aah-ha, after the excellent word dot com (nothing to do with microsoft's over bloated word processing program) disappeared I'd thought I'd never see one of my favourite cartoonists -Kaz on line again. But no - hah, he's got his very own webby web site. He wrote episodes of Spongebob you know, as it happens a couple of my most top favouritest episodes at that - the nasty patty for one, mid-life crustacean for another.
by groc at 06:34 AM | Comments (2)
April 28, 2004
of garbage and old ginger
Jingly jangly guitars, girlies doing a happy ‘yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah’ chorus, little ray-gun firing noises, all good fun and reminiscent of the ’Talking Heads’ or the ‘Tom Tom Club’. I really like the music that Funny Garbage used in their animation showreel. I do.
Thanks to me not keeping up my old freeserve account and as a consequence them deleting everything for me, there was me thinking that my old Ginger web site had gone into the digital ether forever but no, it turns out substantial chunks of it have been preserved over at Archive.org. Yay. A lot of it still looks fairly good today -imho. It's nice to think I'm a proper part of internet history now. (Ooh I wonder if there's some of my old blog in there somewhere - how embarrassing.)
I do keep wondering if I should try to resurrect Ginger and park it somewhere… but then laziness gets the better of me.
by groc at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)
See Red
Labour: I See Red (Labour Needs Leadership Change)
More on the technical aspects of the forthcoming ID cards rightfully described as "a disgrace to democracy."
by groc at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
TeeVee
Hey, whatever happened to 'Odyssey 5' -it was this highly promoted new sci-fi program which Sky One aired in 2002 with much hype, and much fuss. (Of course I managed to miss the pilot - d’oh) but since that first series there’s been nothing. Nadir. Not even a repeat -it just quietly vanished never to be heard from again (and I so wanted to watch the pilot darn it).
I think there should be a law that whenever a show is cancelled -especially one that is based around a strong story arc such as 'Odyssey 5', and the recently repeated 'John Doe' on the Sci-fi channel -that the authors should be made to put all their unfilmed scripts and story notes onto the internet -and anything else that lets the fans know what direction the plot lines were going off in and how the story was planned to have ended. There’s been way too many shows over the recent years that various networks have callously killed off after only the one season. It’s at best plan disrespectful and at worse downright rude to their audiences keep on doing this. It should be obvious that the US Network producers are making a huge fundamental mistake by basing all their decisions on their wretchedly old fashioned Neilson ratings system. That has got to be just about as brain-dead it gets, they’re totally failing to take any notice of this new multi-channelled multi-media, DVD buying world or even of their foreign markets. It’s scary to think how many original, intriguing and interesting shows with scads of potential have been axed simply because a few red neck hicks in the middle of nowhere can’t tear themselves away from their monster trucks, Jerry Springer, and W W Wrestling, and all those endless cheap (in both senses of the word) and tacky reality shows. It’s equally absurd that absolutely everything made has to be an instant over night success or it’s out on it’s ear. Sometimes it takes time for an audience to catch up with a show -and this can be especially so when it’s a little bit off beat -you know anything that isn‘t slavishly formulaic. Short termism is the disease of our age.
(I should be grateful that ‘Dead Like Me’ has gone into a second season.)
I say all this because I’m getting seriously concerned now that so many of my favourite shows have been axed or have come to their natural end - with so few new ones to replace them. It’s like a mini-micro golden age has drawn to a close.
I just hope there’s something worth watching from this list. (Yay on there being a Farscape mini-series at least someone somewhere has seen sense -or the campaign to save Farscape at least.)
by groc at 06:50 AM | Comments (2)
April 27, 2004
more pikturs
(Having used up all my 50 megs of webspace here I'm using fotopic - whoo 250 megs of free space for photos - whooo, and booo to my stingy web host.)
by groc at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
Croozin'
So I watched Cruising on Channel 4 last night. I think I’d seen it once before a long time ago. What an odd film it is. I certainly found it’s pacing all a bit ponderous and slow. (But that might have something to do with my MTV-addled attention span.) It was all very existentialist with some very bizarre almost surrealist touches -for instance why did they have that huge black guy dressed only in boots, cowboy hat and a jock strap in the police station to hit suspects. That's not normal police uniform is it? That was beyond weird. Maybe it was symbolic of something? It was so against the grainy documentary feel of all the rest of the film. As for the plot – well, it was a sort of gay leather queen’s take on Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ wasn’t it? Only instead of a Norman Bates keeping his twisted dead mother’s memory alive by going around stabbing people -we had a muscle Mary keeping his twisted homophobic dead father’s memory alive by going around stabbing people. And why at the beginning of the film did they feel to need to stress that the murderer was ‘shooting blanks’ as it were – his semen not having any sperms floating around in it. Were they trying to infer that because he's impotent therefore he must obviously a homosexualist gay man then – or something? No, I didn’t get that either.
Then there’s the added bonus twist ending of oooh look, the Al Pacino character has had his delicate young psyche all warped and twisted by being amongst all those leather men all that time so now he’s started going around stabbing people. Perhaps. (Is that right -I wasn’t actually paying the full 100% attention towards the end. Update: Reading the IMDB write up about the film -it seems the ending was deliberately left ambiguous. Ummm warra cop out. Hah ha -I made a pun.)
A very odd film –lots of nice muscley men though.
by groc at 12:42 PM | Comments (6)
April 26, 2004
gadgets
I was sat in the library this afternoon - and found myself surrounded by a group of Japanese students. I was fascinated that they all had these little palmtop Casio things. I was trying to seek a look to see what they were - little language dictionaries maybe or possibly complicated scientific calculators or organisers or something. I don’t know what they were -but I know I wanted one. Especially as my handspring was acting up on me - showing me up. Tut. Oh dear, I have such bad gadgetitis.
Maybe I could be even persuaded to wear a wristwach if it had a built in camera.
by groc at 08:46 PM | Comments (1)
April 25, 2004
A rediscovered little joy.
Tim Burton's Stainboy. A flash animated cartoon series. Yay.
I went a bit mad today and bought myself the Spongebob Halloween special DVD. And it wasn't even on sale... I felt I needed cheering up. God but do I need cheering up.
by groc at 06:05 PM | Comments (9)
roofies
by groc at 10:38 AM | Comments (5)
April 24, 2004
ID cards -again -again
Blunkett plans 10-year jail term for possessing false ID. Don't leave home without it - don't accidently pick up someone elses...
Because our jails just aren't full enough.
Funny isn't it? We had all those years of genuine IRA terrorist attacks on mainland Britain. You know -the ones were actual real bombs were exploded and innocent people killed in the streets. There was even a bombing of the hotel were the Tory party were having a conference -a proper assassination attempt no less - in which 5 people where killed. Yet back then in all that time no one ever thought that forcing everyone to have a national ID card would magically solve any of those problems. But now without a single proper terrorist attack on our shores, with only one foiled half-hearted attempt here, a bombing miles away in Madrid and much, much further away in America land two whole years ago. Suddenly we’re all to be classed as potential criminals who will be forced to be finger-printed, iris-scanned, bagged and tagged -to then forever more be made to carry papers that any official can demand to inspect at any time they feel fit. As if it was WW II all over again.
I ask you -what the fuck is going on?
PS. Whenever I see some bright spark who's blindly in favour of ID cards saying 'only those people with something to hide will object to having them' -I think right then, you won't mind showing me your all bank statements, the contents of your wallet, your health records, I'll also have a set of your fingerprints, oh and I'll have a copy of your door keys so I can search around your home any time I feel like it... you've got nothing whatsoever to hide so you can't possibly object. And if you do feel like objecting at anytime - then you won't mind us putting you in prison for 10 years.
by groc at 07:02 AM | Comments (1)
April 23, 2004
© police
I'm sure I wrote a blog entry ages ago about saying that before long we'll have a copyright police who'll be bursting into your front room to confiscate your video tapes, your PC, your home-burnt CDs, your minidiscs and whatever else to stop you doing any of that naughty bad copyright infringing stuff.
Well it's starting to come true - today the schools in Phoenix USA -tomorrow...
by groc at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
friends in high places
Hey nice friend and loyal supporter you've got there Mr. Howard. A racist and an ex-pornographer. Lovely. Nice to see the traditional tory sleaze hasn't been swept away completely.
by groc at 01:55 PM | Comments (2)
towers
["But why should the two towers have collapsed in a manner suspiciously akin to a controlled demolition?" Actually that's easy to explain, the burning high octane fuel of the planes would have melted the steel structure of the floors above and below, then after that the sheer weight of the now unsupported floors above would have collapsed straight downwards and caused a domino effect. Mimicking by coincidence how tower blocks are usually demolished. (Never let it be said I didn't learn quite a bit about skyscrapers from my holiday in Chicago.)
What I do tend to believe is that the US Govt. (or the CIA or whatever the spooks are part of these days) knew long beforehand there was going to be that attack and allowed it to happen -but simply didn’t expect that the whole of the towers would come crumbling down like they did.
This isn’t as far fetched as it sounds -considering there’s a theory that Pres. Roosevelt allowed the attack on Pearl Harbour to happen just so he had the excuse to take America into WW II.
(Oh and if you happen to think I'm being paranoid -then what the hell does that make the USA?)
update: Sarah B also passed on this link: serendipity which makes claims that it was more than just the planes that brought down the towers.
(I'm personally still not convinced there were additional bombs involved - surely the survivors/eye witnesses would've noticed the extra explosions going off? What would be the point of making sure the towers were so cleanly demolished and making so sure they didn't fall over or explode taking out other buildings in the area? Wasn't the planes hitting the towers statement enough? If it was by terrorists wouldn't they have wanted to cause as much damage as possible? If there where such bombs so successfully planted (in two buildings with high security) -why even bother with the planes? It's an Occam's razor sort of thing. After all we're dealing with a US Government that I'm sure if they were so inclined could've easily planted a few stacks of ready-to-go WMDs in Iraq any time they wanted... in fact I'm rather surprised that they haven't. It would've made things so much simplier for themselves.)
by groc at 01:35 PM | Comments (5)
colorized
Suddenly the last two episodes of 'Lost in Space' on the FX channel (Sky 289) have been in colour -or rather 'colorized' and I've been occasionally watching the first series of ‘Bewitched’ which also has had the treatment. Which is fine -it's been well done but... me being me, I can't get over it. It obsesses me. It’s a permanent distraction -I don’t stop noticing it’s been colorized -I’m constantly looking out for the little flaws -the way the eyes, teeth, are sometimes hair left their original grey. I wonder if their costumes and sets were that colour originally -if it’s blue or green now could it have originally been orange or red? How would they know what colour to colorize things? Did they manage to find colour photos of those original props, sets and costumes etc. or do they just make it all up as they go along?
Lookee at how many Spongebob DVDs there are. Want!
by groc at 10:16 AM | Comments (3)
April 22, 2004
RIAA
here's another in a long line of articles saying the same things I and many other people have said. But the RIAA never listens to anybody...
...and there's Blunkett who can't see the problems with the ID card.
S'all kinda ironic innit really?
by groc at 06:45 PM | Comments (0)
ID cards -again
Well there you go -I wrote the last entry before I read this on the BBC news site.
Anyone else spot the rather dubious statistical sleight-of-hand played here that 'most' people (out of a mere 1,000) will be happy to carry a card? Which er... rather suddenly falls to less than 500 once they're told they'll have to pay £35 for it*. In fact only 1 in 5 said they’d be happy to pay that for it, so we’re really down to only 200 people. Now less than a 5th doesn't sound like a good definition of 'most' to me. Does it to you? So we have a rather dishonest headline there don’t we? All very post-Hutton.
We really need to constantly remind ourselves that with any poll/questionnaire it’s exactly how a question is asked -and of whom and then it’s down to how the resulting data is presented. It all amounts to lies, damned lies and statistics.
Now considering that earlier figures banded about for a card were more like £77 -I bet that given that figure those eager-beaver oh-so-willing 1 in 5 figure would drop even more. In actual fact it’s likely to cost a lot more than that. (Incidentally, I wonder how much a replacement for a lost/stolen/damaged card is going to cost. I bet that's going to be a nice little on-going earner for the Treasury.) Now all this is even before any of the various issues have been openly explained to the public.
Blunkett: "What has anybody to worry about having their true identity known?" he said.
Er… for one thing targeted harassment by the authorities misusing their powers maybe. Does no one remember the infamous ‘sus’ laws being used by less than scrupulous (IE racist) PC Plods to stop completely innocent members of the black community going about their neighbourhoods?
Likewise does no one remember the heavy handed state of siege that went on during the 1984 miner’s strike? I bet the police would have loved to have had ID cards back then.*
That's just off the top of my head...
Blunkett: "They have got everything to fear from someone stealing and misusing it."
Yes, all now put into the one single card. How convenient for the identity thieves and the forgers to target. You moron.
By the by doesn't Madrid have a strictly enforced compulsory ID cards system? but did that stop the terrorists there from bombing the railways? How exactly would having a ID card have helped in foiling the recent terrorist bombing attempt here in the UK? The police seemed to manage that one quite well without needing any ID cards.
The whole ID card scheme is ill-conceived, pointless, stupid, useless, that’s already more trouble than it’s worth, a complete waste of taxpayers money… oh wait, see how that description applies to Blunkett too. Him and this evil scheme they’ve both got to go.
*Everyone wanting to know just how bad things can get under an UK Government needs to read ‘A State of Siege by Jim Coulter, Susan Miller and Martin Walker.
When was the last time any Government had your best interests at heart?
Bonus link [via Codshit:] You are all slaves.
by groc at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
warning signs
Now if we put this new report next to Mr Blunkett's proposals for the ID card -what do we get? Well, it's practically an assurance that it will cost millions over budget and that it won't work properly. That's aside from all the other concerns about it. But you can guarantee that won't stop this Government ploughing ahead. What? Did you think we're living in a democracy or something? Oh wait a minute...
"Projects are often poorly defined, codes of practice are frequently ignored and there is a woeful inability to learn from past experience."
-that sounds like politics in general.
(I just wish we had someone decent to vote for... They all look like a bunch of self-serving total idiots to me...)
by groc at 09:10 AM | Comments (2)
April 20, 2004
last weekend
Saturday night and Sunday late morning - and afternoon K and I had Blockbuster DVD-a-thon. So at last I'm now up on 'Underworld', 'Spirited Away', and 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. All of them rather spiffing, 'Spirited Away' being exceptionally so. So much so it’s going on my ‘must buy’ list.
‘Pirates’ was interesting for it being a out and out Disney film, not even put out under their Touchstone Pictures/'Buena Vista' banner. (Home of many a 80s Bette Midler film.) It certainly proves once they tone down their creaky tired old sentimentality and their patented bland family values style entertainment Disney is quite capable of a rollocking good yarn. It’s just a pity they can’t extend a similar touch to their tired animated output, you‘d‘ve thunk they‘d‘ve learnt some valuable lessons from having Pixar around. But nah, they will insist on churning out the same old same old -then they wonder why the public isn't biting anymore. Durrrrr.
by groc at 07:30 PM | Comments (0)
Scarybear
by groc at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2004
Debt.
Now this wouldn’t be the same lot who when they were in power started to move the Further Education system from a Grants based one to a Student-loans based one, is it? A rather ill-thought out system which institutionalises a large debt burden at the very start of any graduates career. A system which to the Labour party’s eternal shame followed through with and with University top-up fees only set to make the situation even worse?
Hmmmm. A system which has actually encouraged record levels of bankruptcy -among students. Seems an awful lot of grief to go through just to get a rubbishy admin. job.
Might be time to give a good hard rethink as to how we're currently organizing education, work life and society -don't you think? Instead of continuing to match down this path which is only set to make things worse.
Stupid Conservatives, stupid Labour.
(Can you tell I've been looking into what it'd mean if I tried to go back into full time education?)
by groc at 01:03 PM | Comments (4)
Page 3 stunnas!
Wolfgang Tilsman on nudity in photographs, obscenity and censorship.
by groc at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
Iraq war secrets
...“Gets to a point where in July, the end of July 2002, they need $700 million, a large amount of money for all these tasks. And the president approves it. But Congress doesn't know and it is done. They get the money from a supplemental appropriation for the Afghan War, which Congress has approved. …Some people are gonna look at a document called the Constitution which says that no money will be drawn from the Treasury unless appropriated by Congress. Congress was totally in the dark on this."
by groc at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2004
It's a Barbie world.
It turns out Alexander Bard of AOL beat those dreary Aqua people to it with a whole Barbie album, he wore drag to do it and sang about Barbie going round the world. There's even a video disguised as a mpg over at the AoL site I've previously mentioned (you'll have to dig around) and songs can be downloaded from here. 'Around the World, around the World -beep beep'.
by groc at 10:39 AM | Comments (1)
Dear Channel 4
What makes you think a mere 6 episodes per season is any where near enough for a comedy classic such as 'Black Books'?
By the by a third series of 'Spaced' wouldn't have hurt either.
by groc at 04:28 AM | Comments (3)
April 15, 2004
B-l-a-h
Blah. Blah, Bl-ah, Blah, bl-ah, Blah, Blah, Blah,
by groc at 11:40 PM | Comments (1)
April 14, 2004
Brucie
Bruce LaBruce's Eye archives.
by groc at 02:44 AM | Comments (3)
April 13, 2004
Horror Deco
[via Dis Infomation]
by groc at 09:50 PM | Comments (4)
April 12, 2004
Army
Why was I not told that there's an offical Army of Lovers website - a place where you can even download their old videos? Why?
There are even old CDs of theirs which I do not own - this is a bad wrong thing and must be rectified asap. Dammit.
Thanks be to Pop Justice for without whom I would have continued living on in ignorance.
The only acceptable AOL there is -ever.
by groc at 06:02 PM | Comments (11)
boo hoo, boo hoo
Why doesn't that surprise me in the least? Now when the Government starts behaving a bit more like the er... Labour Party and a lot less like the Tory party -it might get a few members back. But I think the damage has been done now.
I hate politics -isn't it about time we came up with something a bit better?
by groc at 02:51 PM | Comments (1)
great minds...
The Register must be reading my blog. They say the same thing I did.
by groc at 05:15 AM | Comments (0)
Listings
Mark Edwards of the Sunday Times doesn't like iPods very much:
"There is a type of music “fan” who would actually much prefer to compile a list of the top 10 all-time guitar solos than actually listen to any of them......Then it allows them to sit for hours uploading tracks (a phenomenally nerdish activity), and — best of all — it allows them to compile a series of “playlists” of their music. The iPod’s greatest cultural contribution so far is that it has made one of the most geeky activities known to man — drawing up lists of “best tracks for driving”, “ultimate chill-out tunes” and “greatest synth-pop singles made by Midlands bands 1980-1983” — something cool
."
Mmmmm, now how many bloggers do I know of who love making up long extensive lists of music? (Evil chortle.)
[via Neverthink]
PS
Edwards misses a crucial point in this exhalation of CDs over having the music tracks on an MPG player - if you’ve got any sizable collection at all -you'll know it can be a pain pawing through them all to see what you’ve got. (and that one particular CD you really fancy listening to usually manages to go walkabout just when you want it most) Having most of your collection to hand at the press of a button has got to be more preferable surely? and you can’t really lug your entire CD collection around with you when you're out and about or away from home now can you?
Not that I’ve got one myself. But I do own a CD player that plays MPGs burnt onto CD-RWs. It cost only £40 rather than nearer £400, it runs on 2 easily replaceable rechargeable AA batteries too. It'll do for me until the iPOD or the Creative Zen come down to a more sensible price...
by groc at 03:27 AM | Comments (2)
Priorities
It never fails to amaze me just what the Government of the day can find money for when it wants to -and what it can't find the pennies for when it doesn't.
by groc at 02:16 AM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2004
'Lock 'em all up' Blunkett
So according to Mr Blunkett -how will we stop disaffected young men from being attracted by the teachings of Islamic fundamentalists? Why, we'll put them in prison of course. That'll teach 'em. That'll show them to go around direspecting our democracy and the law of the land.
When did I fall into 'Looking Glass' world?
by groc at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)
mysteries
With Sky Digital why are there 100 'blank' empty channels between Sky 1 mix and UKTV Gold? Are they actually earmarked for anything?
On the same topic -whatever happened to channels 5 to 100?
Could it be there are top secret channels that, I don't know, only select members of the Government, or freemasons, or Royalty or space Aliens living amongst us get to watch? (It's almost a given that -given the sheer amount of utter crap us proles are given to watch that there must be far better programmes that only a elect ever get to see. Or is that just wishful thinking?)
While I'm thinking about such stuff: with PCs running Windows - does anyone anywhere ever make use of floppy drive 'B:'? It's bizarre to me that technology advances on from CD ROM to CD-writers to DVD to DVD writers and who knows how many flavours of smart cards, compact flash cards, memory-sticks, USB storage gizmos etc. and yet no one at any point thought "mmmm B:/ - that's a bit redundant isn't it? Maybe we should drop it altogether." You know, I bet when 'Longhorn' eventually comes out that it willl still have drive B: reserved for that totally non existent floppy disk drive. It wouldn't surprise me.
Human beings -fairly bright -but not actually that bright. We've still got miles to go yet.
by groc at 03:44 AM | Comments (2)
April 10, 2004
Tonight's Telly
E4:
11.05 Six Feet Under.
0.10 Buried.
someone's having a larf aren't they.
by groc at 08:02 PM | Comments (0)
oh this is spooky
someone programmed this:
Dirk Gently's I-Ching Calculator
as a joke.
but when i asked it - 'what do i have to do to get off this stupid course i'm on and it came up with:
"1. CREATIVE COSMOS
Creative People Are Supported By Cosmic Powers. You/They Inspire Their Work With Their Full Creative Power. Clearness Of Vision Will Move Your Leadership-Potential So Ignite Can You Quickly To Success In A Flame Of Glory.
THE COMMENTARY OF THE DUKE OF CHOU:
Line 4: Which You Are In A Position Either, To Reach Public Applause Or To Draw Back In Private - Self-Development."
I've already been looking at the local college's prospectus for their art courses...
hmmmm.
by groc at 07:57 PM | Comments (1)
Hello music lovers, prepare to be gouged -again
Just exactly how greedy and clueless is the music industry anyway? According to this article, well, words like extremely and vastly and staggeringly so, come to mind. [via plasticbag]
"The industry is also mulling other ways to charge more for online singles. One option under consideration is bundling hit songs with less-desirable tracks."
Errrr.... like they do with CD singles? Where once upon a time you got at least got 'b' sides which were often tracks you couldn't get anywhere else -not even on the album. Which made the CD single worth buying (-well sometimes, if you were lucky), but now you usually only get a mass of extended un-imaginative tedious cheesy dance remixes. Which is something (among other things) might partly have to do with the decline in singles sales? Hem?
So let's clarify this - the music industry is already saving masses of money because there's no actual CD being pressed, no plastic jewel box, no printed inserts to be designed and printed, so there’s no shipping or distribution costs -and instead you pay to download a computer file which is more than likely copy-protected to the hilt with all sorts of weird restrictions meaning you can only play it on your computer or mpg-player (and remember you've paid for your ISP connection and for the time taken to download it) and after all that they’re wanting to charge you *more* money than it would cost to have all those things when you buy it from a shop. Suddenly 99 cents looks bloody over-priced if you ask me.
by groc at 04:30 PM | Comments (1)
April 09, 2004
hambot
I like the robo-generator thingy.
by groc at 06:58 PM | Comments (1)
Jerrrrrry
Ooooh Jerry. Ooooh Jerry. Oooooh Jerry.
by groc at 12:44 AM | Comments (4)
April 08, 2004
Lucky
Via the Obvious: Lucky, the stupid dog.
(I've spent my whole life thinking these sorts of thoughts. I really ought to write some of them down.)
by groc at 08:54 PM | Comments (1)
Laundromat
You've seen my photos of my local Launderette before now. Here's someone in America land taking pics of his. Why are 'drettes always so retro?
by groc at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
Eat Spongebob
Ooooooh. Ooooooh. Oooooh. Edible tie-ins how I love thee.
by groc at 02:16 AM | Comments (2)
Pee Wee
via the Cartoonist. Pee Wee Herman/Paul Reubens interview.
Pee Wee's Big Top. Tuesday 13th April 11am BBC 2
by groc at 12:42 AM | Comments (1)
April 07, 2004
Blunkett -back again with his big answer to everything.
I am forced to ask: is David Blunkett a complete and utter moron, or is he just downright plain evil, or merely naive and trusting to the point of absurdity, or maybe it's a mix of all of the above? Because when someone is presented with stacks of evidence to the contrary - a whole slew of facts and figures and empirical evidence attesting that ID cards will prove at best a complete waste of money* and at worse a very sinister proposition, what with all the issues surrounding function creep etc. This added to the fact that it will also will likely damage the Government's credibility and already pretty shaky image among the general public/voters even further. Yet they still press on regardless, only just short of putting their fingers in their ears and singing ‘la-la-la -not listening, la-la-la‘. You’ve got to start asking what the hell is going on.
The other thing I don’t understand is why -if the idea is to have biometric information -iris scans and fingerprints information and whatever else on the cards (probably a DNA sample) -we will even need the card itself? The card will be forged, a document as important as that is bound to be, no matter how hard and difficult the Government tries to make it. Will the next stage be constant fingerprinting and iris scanning by various agencies and Government departments and the police and schools and work places to verify our existances? Won't that be fun?
Years ago I remember reading some mad American right wing Christian fundamentalist comic that was saying in the near future everyone will be marked with a bar code tattoo (something to do with the 666 number of the beast) and/or a implanted silicon chip, and so no one would be able to go anywhere or do anything - even buy food or anything without an evil Satanic World Government knowing every last little thing about it. The Government owned you. Now when all this talk of having a compulsory ID card starts making me think those mad comic books might have a glimmer of truth about them - It’s time to start to get seriously worried.
*Money that surely would be far better spent on the police and intelligence gathering etc. that would actually counter terrorist threats much more directly and efficiently. Wouldn't it? You know -if they were really interested in that sort of thing. Um?
Some links:
(most Americans are opposed to the idea of ID cards - although these days Pres. Bush seems to be warming to the idea. Odd that isn't it?)
ACLU and their 5 reasons why ID cards are a bad idea.
George Kerevan at Scotsman.com
by groc at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)
braindeath
by groc at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)
April 06, 2004
powerpointless
powerpoint slides. (Although they do look a lot better with all the animation. All of those folk who can play the slides - give me a hollar in the comments box and I'll see what I can do. Update: oh pooh - the version of PP on this machine hasn't got the viewer installed. So I can't make stand-alone presentations. How lame is that?)
by groc at 11:13 AM | Comments (5)
April 05, 2004
commercials? give me a break.
TV commercials wot I just don’t get.
First:
Errr. That new Vodaphone advert where the Salary man is walking home while intently listening to his mobile… the joke/point being that a second phone is next to his TV at home playing a football match. Errr… excuse me - isn’t there such a thing as -(pause for dramatic effect) the Radio? A device which more often than not has whole programs *properly* dedicated to football (and many other sports commentaries) and which is totally free to listen to. It certainly doesn’t cost 2p a minute -which at least 90 minutes for the average length of a match = a complete waste of £1.80.
This man is more obviously the fantasy customer Vodaphone would like for themselves. One that is gullible and stupid enough to give Vodaphone lots of his money. (Sorry Vodaphone -this might come as a shock to you but cheap doesn't ever win out over free.)
Feh.
Second:
Why would someone deprived of a plastic tub of Rice pudding ever suddenly think that a live budgerigar between two slides of white bread might make for a suitable replacement? A mouthful of live raw squirming screaming bleeding crunching feathered body full of entrails isn't exactly like a plastic tub of rice pudding is it? Although admittedly both things are most definitely utterly revolting but only so in completely different ways. Psychologically speaking, the idea of them now being forever linked together -not exactly the cleverest of moves is it now?
Eurgh.
Third:
Whatever happened to Levis? Once upon time, even up to very recently Levis were known for their very good TV commercials. But the current ones for their ‘Anti-fit’ 501s? Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
The first advert features a good looking but opinionated pratt of a model boy who is so utterly stupid he thinks that chocolate sauce will go great with his hotdog (he's wrong) and that his skinny arse looks so great in his giant baggy pants (wrong again, so very, very wrong).
Here Levis are effectively saying ‘Hey -you’re very stupid. Buy these really stupid jeans - you belong together.‘
Please god, surely this means bagginess (which has been ‘in’ for so (too) long now) must be on it’s way out very soon. Don’t buy into it kids! Just say no to looking like a complete arse just for the sake of giving Levis too much of your money. Levis has just said they think you’re all morons -please, please don‘t prove them right.
by groc at 10:13 PM | Comments (2)
April 04, 2004
The Avengers strip
via Scrubbles: cartoon strips of The Avengers with Steed & Cathy Gale. Joy.
by groc at 03:24 AM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2004
you've got spam
Thanks to BT Yahoo lots and lots more spam in fact.
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|
I get it in my normal inbox and -oooh look, for some unknown reason copies of it are delivered to this yahoo web mail thing I never asked for. All complete spam - not a single legit piece of mail at all. 99% of it from the very same porn site I've been plagued by for months now -in just one day last Wednesday I counted 31 from them, on Tuesday it was 33! Surely this counts as harrassment? Time to kill off that address methinks. At least the spam I get for my old Yahoo address is a lot more varied and I get much less of it. |
by groc at 04:34 PM | Comments (4)
April 02, 2004
Uh-uh
Ooooh dear - Michael Grade as the new controller of the BBC? This makes me fearful for the new Dr Who even before it's in the can.
by groc at 10:03 PM | Comments (6)
Lost in Space stuff
Talking of Lost in Space... apparently there's a re-make of the series on it's way...
(wonder if they'll update it so it ends where they get found/find their way again?)
Incidently I never knew Bill (Danger, Danger! Will Robinson, Danger!) Mumy grew up to become a comic book writer and even did a 'Lost in Space' series. Me want to see.
Although I did know he played Lennier in Babylon 5. Everyone knows that.
Oh. My. God. But something else I didn't know which I've just found out is that he was one half of the people responsible for one of my all time favourite weirdo novelty songs 'Fish heads' by 'Barnes & Barnes'. Wow.
by groc at 05:54 PM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2004
Hoarders
I don't get it. Supposedly people are being forced into buying smaller places to live because that's all they can afford, but are then spending extra money on storage facilities... couldn't/shouldn't they be putting that extra money into buying themselves a bigger place?
by groc at 11:17 AM | Comments (3)
Alone again
I could be at home watching 'Lost in Space' and 'Batman' you know. Activities which are, in my eyes, far more life-affirming and productive than this. Feh.
>>Side note:
I've just been looking at some of the arts & media courses in the web-site prospectus of the local college here and it really says something that I caught myself thinking: "If I won the lottery I'd really like to do such & such". Yup, there's your proof that student loans and top-up fees and all the rest of it really do put people off. Deep heavy sigh.
(Of course the drive towards loans rather than grants and University fees is yet another idea the Government blindly adopted from America without ever bohering to research whether this scheme would be best suited to our country. And what's happening in America? Ummm -it's not looking too good actually. D'oh.
>>Update:
One other woman who's on my course did turn up - but as she wasn't going to be coming in for the afternoon when it came to lunch time I didn't bother going back for the afternoon myself.
by groc at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)