// The World we Live In
Choice is Bad
I have, for many years, had a sneaking suspicion that choice is, in many respects, a bad thing.
It was an opinion I first came to when various opposition leaders (which if I recall were rattled through at a rate of knots at the time) kept promising more choice for parents and patients and so on. And I always found myself thinking: “well, that’s the last thing you should be giving people, matey”.
Basically, I have come to the conclusion that what people think they want is choice, but in reality what they actually want is someone to choose for them.
I was reminded of this last night when the flatmate and I were flicking through Freeview in an attempt to find something, anything, to watch. Disappointingly it finally dawned on us that the proliferation of digital channels has merely released broadcasters from the requirement of making whatever they broadcast worth watching – almost like the competition has made them give up and just not spend any money instead of raise their game.
So there we were, faced with a choice between the Olympics (for the love of Sonia, NO!), Tomb Raider: Cradle of Filth (or somesuch tripe) and Hellboy. At which we exchanged a glance, lowered our expectations and plumped for the latter.
Amazingly, considering the awfulness that could have ensued from a plot involving Nazis, Demons, the Occult, Nazi Occultists, Rasputin and John Hurt, it turned out to be very enjoyable indeed.
(And I must say that Rupert Evans can come over mine any time he likes.)
Posted on August 18, 2008 | Filed Under Film, TV, Theatre, The World we Live In | 0 Comments
Virgin Trains: Epic Fail
A few weeks ago the flatmate and I decided to journey up to Manchester to visit the lovely Helen and eat too much and drink too much and go out clubbing and so on. And much fun was had by all.
Except, I should point out, on the journey up.
The Friday was one of the days when power lines came down (as they are apparently wont to do) and at about half an hour prior to our journey to boot. As a result the 12:05 to Manchester was cancelled and we were told to hoof it to St Pancras and go to Manc via Sheffield instead – adding a couple of hours to the journey, incidentally.
Having seen the queue at St. Pancras (we weren’t getting on) we ambled back to Euston where the 1:05 it turns out hadn’t been cancelled since things were running again. Again the queue was shocking so we weren’t getting on, but we got our tickets validated, waited for the 2:05 to be announced and – due to a very impressive sprint if I do say so myself – managed to get into first class and settled down for the journey. Which got is into Manchester two hours later than we’d intended, but at least got us there.
So far so dull for you, dear reader, but what I’m leading up to is this: Chris and I both submitted claims for the journey, and both of us have had a response.
Mine was ?Ǭ£43 of vouchers and a grovelling apology.
Chris’ was a letter explaining the 12:05 hadn’t been cancelled at all, was only 34 minutes late and therefore he wasn’t owed a penny.
How’s that for service, eh?
Posted on August 12, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In | 0 Comments
A World of Noise and Pain
There are fewer things more irritating at five thirty in the morning than the experience of being rudely awoken by the shrill insistent sound of a car alarm in the street outside.
Things that are more irritating include having the same car alarm being allowed by its owners to continue more or less constantly until about six forty-five.
But an even more irritating experience than that is having all of this go on and then having a nearby flock of wild parakeets take exception to the noise and begin competing with it.
So, given that I am in rather desperate need of beauty sleep at the moment anyway, I currently wish all people who have car alarms a big healthy dose of syphilis and eternal damnation.
You utter, utter bastards.
Posted on August 7, 2008 | Filed Under My So-Called Life, The World we Live In | 0 Comments
An Odd Competitive Streak
It seems that Boots are now stocking both Female and Male fertility testing kits, which is a development I find somewhat surprising I must say.
What’s worse though is that despite having no interest whatsoever in procreating (or children generally if I’m honest) there’s a part of me that’s now wondering how I’d come out.
Is this just my inner self-loather trying to find another stick to beat myself with or am I developing a competitive streak: “hah! I’m hugely fertile and no you can’t have any!”
I worry myself I really do.
Posted on July 28, 2008 | Filed Under My So-Called Life, The World we Live In | 0 Comments
Small Miracles
Do you know, it never ceases to amaze me just how many people – well, ladies actually – can be found of a morning sitting on the bus or tube putting their make-up on – and, more specifically, eye make-up to boot.
Given the quality of London’s streets and the devil-may-care attitude of some of the bus drivers I have experienced I think it’s really quite surprising that more eyepatches aren’t on display in the City.
Posted on July 25, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In | 0 Comments
Legalised Rape?
Those of you familiar with the work of Terry Pratchett will be aware that in his discworld novels the city of Ankh-Morpork has clevery managed to control crime by, essentially, unionising criminals. If you’re not a member of said union you can’t for example, kill anyone or be a pickpocket or a “seamstress” (“they call them seamstresses… hem-hem”).
All of which works mightily well, apparently, and explains why this morning, on visiting the BBC news page I had to stifle more than a small snigger at the headline I saw there:
Call for specialist rape squads.
Er…
Posted on July 9, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In | 0 Comments
Russell The Davies, OBE
So, the man himself, Russell T. Davies, has been awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Now inevitably there’s a certain amount of grumbling about the honours list anyway, and there’s a certain amount of muttering along the lines of “well, he’s only brought back Doctor Who, how does that qualify him for an honour?” but I think he more than deserves this award for service to television and culture over the last twenty-odd years.
Who notwithstanding, he’s the creator of the groundbreaking series Queer as Folk which I had the pleasure of watching again recently and, with the shock value of some of its scenes long since gone, found I was just blown away by the writing. The warmth and the humour and – frankly – brilliant characterisation made me fall in love with it all over again. It’s a stunning bit of writing and well worth a re-viewing if you get the chance.
And then there’s its cultural impact which still resonates to this day.
Then there’s the quality of his other work. I have yet to see many of his other series, but two of his early works “Dark Season” and “Century Falls” had me gripped by Children’s BBC when technically I was way outgrowing it. The former clearly showed he wanted to write Doctor Who, but both also proved that kids could easily handle, nay love, proper drama at a time when the industry believed it was going out of fashion.
If anything I think its these two series that made me realise I wanted to write too.
He’s never written down to kids this one – look at “the Flashing Blade” and “Breakfast Serials” too for further proof – and I do believe that’s vitally important.
His New Doctor Who Adventures novel “Damaged Goods” is something I’ve also picked up again recently and that too is a brilliant – if very dark and, at times, harrowing – read, but also contains seeds that will be familiar to any New Series fans. (Council Estate, with sassy Girl, dark Time Lord, gays a go-go, war machine from an unseen war appearing on earth and so on…)
To see Russell talk about television is too be overawed by his intelligence, his rigour and – above all – his amazing enthusiasm for the medium. It’s always heady stuff and fires me up every time.
And then he’s effectively created a proper Welsh television industry, turning it from a small regional operation into a major powerhouse of drama. And if that doesn’t deserve an OBE I don’t know what does.
The man’s, frankly, brilliant and – despite my occasional problems with his plot decisions on Who – I love him to bits. Well done Russell, it’s an award I think is richly deserved.
Posted on June 14, 2008 | Filed Under Film, TV, Theatre, The World we Live In | 1 Comment
Closed Language Systems
A closed language system is an interesting thing. You almost certainly use one yourself: it’s basically the phenomenon whereby people in a social group somehow understand each other despite the fact that what they’re saying doesn’t actually *mean* anything and yet somehow (and often against all the odds) you figure out rapidly what that person means.
Case in point – and my aunt really is a master of this sort of statement – “oh, can you go and get me the thingy”.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I have stared blankly at her and tried to figure out what the thing could possibly be, and yet somehow I usually arrive at the right decision and respond accordingly.
Of course, you could sit there and go “well, if she’s about to whisk eggs then she’d logically want you to get the egg whisk” but that’s not quite it. Because my aunt’s mental processes are very rarely routed in whatever’s happening at the time, the context is never immediately apparent. She could just as easily want me to get a screwdriver or an iPod or whatever.
It’s quite an art.
This morning my flatmate demonstrated a knowledge of me which indicates that we too have a genuinely closed language system. Prior to leaving for work he had cause – from a completely different room in the house – to decode a vocalisation of mine which showed he had precisely located the likely events which would lead me to make such a noise.
The noise in question – let loose as I rummaged in my bag looking for my work door pass – can only be expressed in letters as “wuh-hurghh!”
After which there was a noticeable flurry of activity and pause, after which a voice drifted along the hallway from the front room with the simple enquiry: “spider?”
He was spot on.
It seems spider season has begun. Gah!
Posted on June 2, 2008 | Filed Under My So-Called Life, The World we Live In | 0 Comments
Sensitive Reporting
You would have thought, given the unthinkably unpleasant nature of the case of the murder of James Hughes and his mother – a tragic case which already beggars belief and we don’t know the half of it – that it would get some sensitive reporting by the UK press, wouldn’t you?
Apparently not if you are The Sun, however.
Their headline today reads “Murder of the Man Boy” which I think shows a staggering lack of intelligence on the part of whoever came up with it really. I was completely stunned when I saw it earlier.
The Sun really is staffed by dickheads isn’t it? It used to be the case that only Victoria Newton was Bizarre, now it seems to be the whole bally bunch of them.
Posted on April 24, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In | 0 Comments
All the Misery in the World
Standing in WH Smith’s Queue of Eternity on Saturday (loading up with envelopes and Torchwood magazine – I’m still cut up about Tosh) the flatmate and I were stunned to realise that the Non Fiction section we were standing next to featured not one, not two, but seven true-life stories of child-abuse in the top ten.
I mean… seven! All of which had a picture of a child and a sort of handwriting-ey-esque font on the cover and titles like “Please Don’t Tell Mummy”, “Our Little Secret”, “A Broken Child” and so on.
So, please tell me, British book-buying public… what the hell is the matter with you? How much of other people’s misery do you feel the need to consume? Is this something you have to do to make your own lives seem better or are you just deeply morbidly inclined?
Thankfully Bill Bryson’s entertaining dissection of the life of Shakespeare was number one so I guess there’s hope yet, but honestly…
Posted on April 23, 2008 | Filed Under The World we Live In | 3 Comments