Quite possibly the greatest thing to happen to the British Broadcasting Corporation since the television. I find it immensely useful as I don't watch television everyday and often I like to busy myself with something constructive on my PC. Watching something can be more an annoyance than something to add to the Photoshopping or my latest Thief II fan mission. As such I find myself listening to the radio and when I do wish to watch something, I can at my leisure.
My only issue with the iPlayer is something that cannot be helped. The BBC cannot store everything they have ever produced on it and I long for the day when the technology improves and at any given time I can watch an old Doctor Who or an episode of Blakes 7. Perhaps even a news broadcast closest to the time of my birth. I'd love to watch that. What a handy resource that would be! Think of the educational capabilties it holds. Being able to watch a news report from as far back as the very first new the BBC ever broadcast! I look forward to the future when such things are so freely available.
Until then I'll just watch and listen to the things that are available.
Thursday 19 March 2009
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Many of my British readers will not have heard of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I'm a big fan of it myself and always appreciated an episode I haven't seen. A friend introduced it to me a while back and at first I didn't know what to make of it. After watching a few episodes I began to understand that it was in fact pure genius!
To save a lengthy read here is its Wikipedia page: Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Wikipedia
There are ten series of it in total and each episode covers an old B-movie. The heckling and commentary is hilarious. Sometimes they make highly specific cultural references meaning that some jokes are lost on one person but another person would find such a joke very amusing.
It's difficult to discribe unless you sit and watch a few episodes. I just wanted to raise a little awareness of the show. Unfortantly it was only in production during the 90s and has finished.
Link to: The Official Mystery Science Theater 3000 website
To save a lengthy read here is its Wikipedia page: Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Wikipedia
There are ten series of it in total and each episode covers an old B-movie. The heckling and commentary is hilarious. Sometimes they make highly specific cultural references meaning that some jokes are lost on one person but another person would find such a joke very amusing.
It's difficult to discribe unless you sit and watch a few episodes. I just wanted to raise a little awareness of the show. Unfortantly it was only in production during the 90s and has finished.
Link to: The Official Mystery Science Theater 3000 website
Sunday 8 March 2009
Dereliction
Ever since I was a child I have been fascinated by derelict and abandoned places. Something about them appeals to both my historical interest and my appreciation for the Gothic and Noir. I love that chill when I spy an old building boarded up with grass growing high around it. What's inside? What was it like in its prime? There is also a sad loneliness about such places. A lost era.
Plymouth has many derelict or unused buildings. Most notably Union Street with the Art Deco theatre recently the Millennium Discotheque and Dance Academy the old Victorian 'New Palace Theatre'. In Greenbank there stands a sinister church and on Grenville Road a boarded up chapel. They look like vampire dens worthy of a black and white horror film.
In the early hours of this morning I discovered a fantastic forum called "Derelict Places" and registered today. It is full of constructions and spaces that have seen neglect either recently or for decades and even centuries. My favourite so far has to be St Joseph's Seminary in Upholland, Lancashire. It's a divine Gothic Revival building and is remarkably well intact. It fell into disuse simply because being a Roman Catholic priest just isn't as hip as it used to be. Its chapel is splendid and the hallways and rooms have a haunting touch. The library interests me greatly with its religious books scattered all around the room. I'd love to pick one up and read some of it.
The forum is a goldmine of eerie photos and interesting delights ranging from ancient council building boilers to decaying cinema projectors. If such things spark the more curious side of your nature then I recommend taking a look. The abandoned asylums are my favourite as they are just too creepy to describe.
Link to Derelict Places
Plymouth has many derelict or unused buildings. Most notably Union Street with the Art Deco theatre recently the Millennium Discotheque and Dance Academy the old Victorian 'New Palace Theatre'. In Greenbank there stands a sinister church and on Grenville Road a boarded up chapel. They look like vampire dens worthy of a black and white horror film.
In the early hours of this morning I discovered a fantastic forum called "Derelict Places" and registered today. It is full of constructions and spaces that have seen neglect either recently or for decades and even centuries. My favourite so far has to be St Joseph's Seminary in Upholland, Lancashire. It's a divine Gothic Revival building and is remarkably well intact. It fell into disuse simply because being a Roman Catholic priest just isn't as hip as it used to be. Its chapel is splendid and the hallways and rooms have a haunting touch. The library interests me greatly with its religious books scattered all around the room. I'd love to pick one up and read some of it.
The forum is a goldmine of eerie photos and interesting delights ranging from ancient council building boilers to decaying cinema projectors. If such things spark the more curious side of your nature then I recommend taking a look. The abandoned asylums are my favourite as they are just too creepy to describe.
Link to Derelict Places
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Architecture
Buildings fascinate me. They shape settlements and give them character. Every building projects an image which may inspire or depress. Take the Houses of Parliament, a palace of the people. Majestic Gothic Revival standing proud provoking images of power and beauty; Its clocktower iconic rising high and handsome. Then take the Empire State Building, towering so tall and bold with its geometric art deco look. Even 78 years later it manages to look modern with its smart design. An excellent example of a 20th Century building.
I love being able to guess the age of a building just by looking at it. Being able to tell the difference between a Victorian house and a 1930s one. As a great fan of history it's only natural to have an interest in architecture.
It used to be a thing of pride and status. Look at our nation! Look at our cities and our quaint villages! Are they not beautiful? Even after the devastating First World War art deco prevailed a new streamlined look of the future. So I cannot understand why after the Second World War architecture took a downturn. Suddenly concrete was fashionable. The Civic Centre, built in the early 1960s, is an excellent example of the stark grey grimness that was deemed to be a groovy statement of the times. Its beauty is purely its monstrosity.
Architecture today is either generic or over-the-top arty. I long for a day when style and decoration returns to our construction sites. Or even the simple geometric design of art deco. Perhaps styles such as Classical Revival and New Deco will grace our cityscapes and wouldn't it be nice to see Faux Tudor return to the walls of suburban and village buildings.
Whatever the future has in store architecturally I hope it's something that inspires and makes a stylish statement. Buildings that look appropiate for our brave new world.
I love being able to guess the age of a building just by looking at it. Being able to tell the difference between a Victorian house and a 1930s one. As a great fan of history it's only natural to have an interest in architecture.
It used to be a thing of pride and status. Look at our nation! Look at our cities and our quaint villages! Are they not beautiful? Even after the devastating First World War art deco prevailed a new streamlined look of the future. So I cannot understand why after the Second World War architecture took a downturn. Suddenly concrete was fashionable. The Civic Centre, built in the early 1960s, is an excellent example of the stark grey grimness that was deemed to be a groovy statement of the times. Its beauty is purely its monstrosity.
Architecture today is either generic or over-the-top arty. I long for a day when style and decoration returns to our construction sites. Or even the simple geometric design of art deco. Perhaps styles such as Classical Revival and New Deco will grace our cityscapes and wouldn't it be nice to see Faux Tudor return to the walls of suburban and village buildings.
Whatever the future has in store architecturally I hope it's something that inspires and makes a stylish statement. Buildings that look appropiate for our brave new world.
Tuesday 3 March 2009
Ross Noble
Last night I had the good fortune to be able to see Ross Noble at the Plymouth Pavilions.
He has to be the most dynamic stand-up comedian I have ever seen. Before last night I had watched two of his DVDs. Both were very entertaining but did not compare with seeing him live.
The stage was bare apart from a huge inflatable hydra-like monster with four heads of Ross Noble leering over the audience. Members of the audience had placed little gifts for him at the front of the stage. It reminded me of an elder god from an H.P. Lovecraft story.
When he came on he was bouncing around and full of energy and the audience were ruptured by his presence. He selected his usual few targets at the front of the audience which is part of his act and ridiculed them and found out more about them. These included a man with a negative outlook on life judging by his responses of 'shit' and 'crap' leading Ross to assume the man was poo obsessed much to the hilarity of the audience. Another was a skinhead in a string vest who liked Disney films and a fairly ordinary looking lady with the children's skulls tattooed on her feet. Ahh... the Plymouth Populace.
The evening's entertainment covered topics such as elephant rape, poo babies, bodily fluids and Our Lord Jesus Christ having his testicles trapped in an IKEA computer desk. Primarily his act is unscripted resulting in his responses and jokes being triggered by the general comments of the audience of the night. I wonder what he'd have made of me if I had been sat on the front row and caught his attention.
It was a fantastic and throughly entertaining night all in all and I should very much like to see him perform again one day.
Ross Noble's Website
He has to be the most dynamic stand-up comedian I have ever seen. Before last night I had watched two of his DVDs. Both were very entertaining but did not compare with seeing him live.
The stage was bare apart from a huge inflatable hydra-like monster with four heads of Ross Noble leering over the audience. Members of the audience had placed little gifts for him at the front of the stage. It reminded me of an elder god from an H.P. Lovecraft story.
When he came on he was bouncing around and full of energy and the audience were ruptured by his presence. He selected his usual few targets at the front of the audience which is part of his act and ridiculed them and found out more about them. These included a man with a negative outlook on life judging by his responses of 'shit' and 'crap' leading Ross to assume the man was poo obsessed much to the hilarity of the audience. Another was a skinhead in a string vest who liked Disney films and a fairly ordinary looking lady with the children's skulls tattooed on her feet. Ahh... the Plymouth Populace.
The evening's entertainment covered topics such as elephant rape, poo babies, bodily fluids and Our Lord Jesus Christ having his testicles trapped in an IKEA computer desk. Primarily his act is unscripted resulting in his responses and jokes being triggered by the general comments of the audience of the night. I wonder what he'd have made of me if I had been sat on the front row and caught his attention.
It was a fantastic and throughly entertaining night all in all and I should very much like to see him perform again one day.
Ross Noble's Website
Sunday 1 March 2009
Death
I know it's one of the grizzliest topics I could've started my blog with, but I felt it was something that has been on my mind that I wanted to write down.
Death has been haunting me recently. Not directly but around me. Friends have been attending funerals. A chap I'd not seen for a long time bumped into me on the street and revealed he was a victim of cancer. I have even lost a friend to grief, he hides away and does not communicate with his friends to an unhealthy level.
And yet, when I sit in the local cemetery, I feel a great sense of peace. A sense of rest. And I came to question what death was. For me it is a concept. I believe there is an afterlife. I've experienced a lot of inexplicable things when growing up and it makes one get the impression that there's more to life than meets the eye. Perhaps a science not yet discovered or maybe something beyond the capabilities of the scientist. So... death. What is it? I don't know. I would see it as a passage to another form. But many see it as an end.
Is death an end? Physically it can be. The body is burnt or rots back into the earth. Spiritually? That depends if you believe in such things. I believe in the spirit, the soul. Why not? If it doesn't exist then it doesn't matter. But assuming it does exist then it is something to care about.
So I came to a conclusion.
Death is what you think it is.
I think it's one hell of a relief from life. But I am far from ready to die.
Death has been haunting me recently. Not directly but around me. Friends have been attending funerals. A chap I'd not seen for a long time bumped into me on the street and revealed he was a victim of cancer. I have even lost a friend to grief, he hides away and does not communicate with his friends to an unhealthy level.
And yet, when I sit in the local cemetery, I feel a great sense of peace. A sense of rest. And I came to question what death was. For me it is a concept. I believe there is an afterlife. I've experienced a lot of inexplicable things when growing up and it makes one get the impression that there's more to life than meets the eye. Perhaps a science not yet discovered or maybe something beyond the capabilities of the scientist. So... death. What is it? I don't know. I would see it as a passage to another form. But many see it as an end.
Is death an end? Physically it can be. The body is burnt or rots back into the earth. Spiritually? That depends if you believe in such things. I believe in the spirit, the soul. Why not? If it doesn't exist then it doesn't matter. But assuming it does exist then it is something to care about.
So I came to a conclusion.
Death is what you think it is.
I think it's one hell of a relief from life. But I am far from ready to die.
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