The Boring Blog

Will it end in a Brave New World?

2009-05-01T14:45:00.004+01:00

The Japanese have been researching the effects of lithium in drinking water & unsurprisingly have found that when present it reduces suicide rates. Lithium is currently used to treat bipolar disorder so these results are unsurprising. This research beggars the question "is it ethical to add lithium to drinking water?".

For me, this is a slippery slope & I'm reminded of soma in Brave New World which "makes you high yet it's more akin to a hangoverless tranquilliser or an opiate" (from huxley.net). Now this is maybe taking things a bit far but once the positive benefits of one drug are recognised why not add another to the water supply?

We are familiar with dystopic ideas becoming a reality such as big brother is watching you & the prevalence of cctv in society especially within the UK. It wasn't so long ago that most people treated cctv with suspicion & now we just accept it as part of modern day life.

Ultimately, it depends on the extent that government wish to nanny us as has been seen with so many health promotions campaigns such as smoking & obesity so why not then deal with our fundamental happiness?

Vatican Shmatican

2009-03-31T16:03:00.004+01:00

So a Vatican boycott likely of Ron Howard's film of Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons". Well sorry, that's just a red rag to a bull as a recovering Catholic I feel compelled to go see it. The only downside I can see is that it's Dan Brown.

Foundation Worry

2009-03-31T14:06:00.006+01:00

Asimov's Foundation is getting the film treatment and it's another one of those things in which I'm in two minds about. Again, as with many other authors, Asimov formed part of my childhood so any film will have to compete with those memories.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want the films not to be made I just want them to be very good. The Lord of the Rings films could have been so bad but luckily the director was a LotR geek and he brought a lot of love to the project. I guess I will have to hold my peace until there's more detail released so watch this space.

Channel 4.5

2009-01-21T15:15:00.004Z

There's been a certain amount of speculation about the futures of
channels 4 & 5 with one solution being the merger of the two. I think Ch4 is in better shape than Ch5 & this is purely based of view the channels - 4 seems to have more advertisers than 5 with the latter showing more government ads.

Personally, I couldn't care less about 5, I rarely watch it and the only stuff on there of any quality are the US imports which any other channel could easily pick up.

Ofcom has suggested a merger between the two with a stronger public service remit. I like this idea but almost feel that 5 would bring very little to the mix and it would almost be worth seeing it go to the wall.

The Obama Effect

2009-01-21T12:49:00.004Z

It's been said of Obama that he isn't "black" enough. I'm in no position to comment other than to say perhaps he's had to play the acceptable face of politics and to do that he's had to make sure he doesn't "scare the white folks".

Magaret Thatcher certainly wasn't feminine and you could argue that she couldn't be if she were to make her way in male-dominated politics. And you could argue that her "success" as a leader had nothing to do with being a woman. Now the question is, will Obama fall into the same trap & not deliver to the black community in a way that they hope?

The Obama effect is already evident though in that he's already filled black people, not just in America but around the world, with confidence and with the feeling that they can do anything. So even if he does fail them, hopefully there'll be a whole new generation who'll be ready to step up and face the challenge.

There's already calls for British politicians to take advantage of the Obama effect.

The Costa Crunch?

2009-01-19T13:07:00.002Z

Costa are proving wonky saucers, could this be a product of the current financial situation that they have had to buy reject crockery?

Actually, I think it's so there's room for a biscotti or two and I'm sure they've been doing these saucers for a while it's just I'm an infrequent visitor.

Ritchie does Holmes

2008-09-19T17:31:00.004+01:00

Jude Law is up to play Watson to Robert Downey Jr's Holmes in Guy Ritchie's "action packed" Sherlock Holmes.

I can't but help think that this is just a car crash waiting to happen but who knows I may be wrong. For me, the definitive Holmes was Jeremy Brett in the Granada series.

There's no way Downey will beat that performance but Law way well be a passable Watson.

Virtually Permanent Engineering Works

2008-09-19T17:19:00.002+01:00

With this weekend's planned engineering works it'd be easier to list which lines don't have any works - there are a total of 8 lines effected as well as Bank with the on-going escalator work.

I think TFL should just get rid of the tube map & replace it with a man at work sign.

I accept the work has to be done & it's a result of the lack of investment for decades but it'd be nice to have at least one weekend when there's no working going on at all.

Beam me up Peggy

2008-09-19T13:56:00.002+01:00

Not sure how I missed it, but Sim Pegg he of Shaun of the Dead & Spaced fame is to play a young (& let's face it, a lot slimmer) Scotty in the new Star Trek film.

Now those are some pretty big shoes (and, ahem, red uniform) to fill. Is he up to it? Love him as I do, I'm not so sure & I'll have to wait until the 2009 release to find out.

Tovey or not Tovey?

2008-09-18T16:13:00.002+01:00

So Russell T. Davies wants Russell Tovey as the next Doctor reported here. I have to admit that I went "who?" even being told he was is the last Christmas Special. After Googling I was reminded that he was in the excellent Beeb 3 one off "Being Human" about a werewolf (Tovey) & a vampire who share a house with a ghost. Sounds awful but it was very good particularly because of the performance that Tovey put it.

He also played the gay producer in Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive, which I didn't see when it was broadcat but have seen bits of it on Youtube & again Tovey's performance was excellent.

But would he be a good Doctor? I feel he's a bit young & probably needs a bit more experience so maybe not Tennant's replacement but perhaps the one after.

Segway? No Way!

2008-09-10T13:23:00.003+01:00

Lembit Öpik thinks we should get serious about the Segway. Why shouldn't we? Because you look like a knob on one & only 'merkins could possibly think they're cool.

Brideshead Revisited, Revisited

2008-09-09T14:31:00.002+01:00

As the Julian Jarrold version of Brideshead Revisited drags it's heals to the cinemas, its one saving grace would appear to be the casting of Ben Whishaw as Sebastian Flyte. We last saw Ben in the gritty Criminal Justice on the Beeb & he pulled off a magnificent performace making me want to see more from him, shame it has to be in this film.

Why am I so anti the film? Because I love the book, which introduced me to the wonderful world of Waugh & I love the 80s series, which made me a fan of both Jeremy Irons & Anthony Andrews. The series will always have fond memories for me.

The problem for any film of Brideshead will be doing the book justice & even at over 2 hours I'm not sure that this film can have. For me, the story is about Charles' obsession with a family, catholicism & the dying nobility so I'm some what appalled to see a steamy sex scene in the trailer.

Oh well, I will have to go see the film if only to see Ben's performance.

Against Second Hand Books

2008-09-02T16:12:00.002+01:00

Chas Newkey-Burden in the Guardion has this to say against second hand books. Whereas I do accept what he has to say surely his reasons for not buying them are really an argument for CHECKING what you're getting before you buy. Or go to the Oxfam bookshop is Marylebone which may even have several copies of a book for you to choose from. So not all together convinced by his arguments.

Geoffrey Perkins Dead at 55

2008-08-31T18:24:00.003+01:00

Geoffry Perkins one time producer of the likes of the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy, Spitting Image, Father Ted & more recently Benidorm has been killed in a road accident in London.

I'll, of course, remember him most of all for Hitch Hikers but the fact that he's been involved in loads of my fav comedy shows over the last 20 years will also add to the loss.

Second Hand Books

2008-08-31T17:07:00.003+01:00

One of the joys killed by online shopping has been book shops browsing though part of the reason for that has been that these days I know what I like and being able to get it by just a few clicks has been a joy.

Because of my recent money problems I've had to find alternative ways of getting reading matter.

Libraries fell at the first, as after numerous trips to Lewisham library to find something, anything to read, failed.

I then began looking in charity shops & the out come was a little bit better if pricier. My first trip netted me the first 2 Lord of the Rings books and a thriller all for 3 quid. Getting the 3rd Lord of the rings cost me 2 quid, this from Oxfam's books only shop in Marylebone - as well stocked as any bookshop.

Though second hand books will never compete with the newly purchased - being the first to open a book has a thrill of it's own - I'm now hooked on the previously owned partly because you just never know what you're going to find & it's rekindled my joy of browsing.

Blast from the Past

2008-08-29T12:52:00.001+01:00

One of my favorite pieces of work by David Byrne of Talking Heads fame is the Knee Plays, originally released in 1985 & never out of my walkman for years, has been remastered & re-released along with a DVD - can't say I'm that bothered about that though the music will be a welcome addition to my ipod.

Pay Day & No Money

2008-08-29T11:42:00.000+01:00

After looking forward so much to finally getting paid, it's a bit of a blow to have to wait as the money hasn't hit my crappy card account yet. And of course the level of doubt is intense - is it the University's fuck-up? is the card account just being slow? or did I fuck-up & not give the correct details to payroll? Oh well, all I can do is wait & have yet another boring weekend of doing nothing.