24 February 2010

Almost Got My Ducks In A Row...

Contrary to the ridiculous business expression, ducks don't like lining up in straight rows and they also have a tendancy to move about the place. Maybe it's the snow that has forced them to queue up just for this shot...


Extra prize for anyone who can identify the 'ducks' for me!

Although, now that I think of it, this post could easily be an analogy for my life right now (except for not remembering the names of birds... ;-) !

21 February 2010

Mum's The Word For Pre-School Ed-you-kay-shun...

This isn't a top secret revelation, although I do firmly believe the authors would prefer this be kept quiet, but I do have to give credit to my Mother of all people for this posting.  Quite simply Sefton Council (as in Merseyside) have a new leaflet out to tell new parents what grants are available to help their babies get the best head-start in their life-long learning journey.  I think any parent would be happy if their child could read (or spell)...

19 February 2010

What Is Real? It Seems Everything On TV Is Fake!

There are many things in life that make me question my beliefs and assumptions about the world.  In the realms of TV, I believed very little of what I saw.  In fact, I should have believed even less as the few things I knew were real ... have turned out to be fake!  The world is not as my TV tells me, locations aren't as they appear and, not in an environmentalist way, the world is green!  Am I just babbling nonsense?  Probably, so watch this video from Stargate Studios and be prepared to never again look at a TV show the same...  Credit to TV Squad for posting this first and me for having the ability to read that post!

12 February 2010

Scousers Here, Scousers There, Scousers ... erm Not In Parliament?

Do Labour really not want any MPs in the next parliamentary session? In a relatively safe Labour seat with the main opposition being the Lib Dems, we have a sitting MP who is standing down. This seat is last year's Capital of Culture, and my home town, Liverpool. So which incredible talent do the reach out to as the next candidate? Paul McCartney? Cilla Black? Daniel Craig? Craig Charles??? No. Apparently the Liverpudlian candidate was not good enough for the Labour Party and they went with Luciana Berger. No, not the daughter of Patrick Berger, former Czech Republic and Liverpool FC star, but instead the one from nearby LONDON!
This has caused an outrage! She foolishly agreed to be quizzed by the Liverpool Echo on Liverpool's history and from what I can tell she only managed to name one of The Beatles and has no idea who Bill Shankly was or who performed Ferry Across The Mersey! Aside from countless questions being raised within the Labour Party, they now face a huge threat to their vote share with Comic Actor and famous Socialist Labour Party supporter, Ricky Tomlinson (from nearby Blackpool), trying to stand against her! So come May we can expect Labour to lose, maybe the Socialist Labour Party or Lib Dems to win, but the biggest winner will be David Cameron with a majority one greater than it would have been if sense had of prevailed.

11 February 2010

Why Is Michael McIntyre Starring As The Wolfman?

Just back from watching The Wolfman and there are several things that have surprised me about this film.  I believe it has been delayed by many months which it spent in post-production and I'm pleased that this hasn't made it into a long and drawn out film.  Yes, it is a little bit schizophrenic at times, but the acting, the direction, the sets, the special effects and the make up are all very professional.  In fact on the, I'm stunned how they managed to take 21st Century comedy maestro Michael McIntyre and age him slightly to be the lead actor:

The film is quite enjoyable, doesn't bore you at any point and has a nice sprinkling of loud noises / jump out scenes as well as some hardcore gore (similar to Daybreakers in not pulling any punches).  From the opening titles, you realise that this is a remake of a classic Hammer horror film about "The Wolfman".  It's not a serious thriller about werewolves nor a teen flick about love between monsters.  All it tries to do is tell the story of this one Wolfman and it does that pretty well.  That said, there are times especially in the first half hour were the direction and acting comes across as a serious drama or suspense thriller which at the time does confuse you.  When you leave and you recall the opening titles, the main sequence in the middle and the closing scene, you know that it is very good and modern Hammer horror film which does entertain.

10 February 2010

Finally ... A Social Network For Bees!

I'm really happy that the human-centric web has finally reached out to our cousins, the delicate bees, and created them their own social network called Buzz (unconnected to the directory service from AT&T).  It seems it's all part of Google's "do no evil" strategy and has nothing to do with facebook or twitter and the on-going battle for the future of mankind (aka the internet).  I went to see what the, erm, hub-bub was all about and low and behold, Google think I'm so important they have created a profile of me (very flattering, much better than being profiled in a serial killer kind of way!).

2 February 2010

Happy New Decade With A Grainy Picture!

What happened to January...?  Any way, here's how I welcomed in the new decade, kneeling in the middle of the frozen Union Canal with a glass of champagne in my hind.  Start as you mean to go on...

25 October 2009

6 October 2009

Exclusive: Toy Story 3's European Premiere Will Be At EIFF 2010!

That's right, and you really did read it here first!  The 64th Edinburgh International Film Festival host the European Première of Toy Story 3, most likely on the afternoon of Saturday 19th June, 2010.  Where did I get my red-hot exclusive from you ask?  My brain.  In 2008 the UK premiere of Wall.E was 24 hours after the American launch on a Saturday afternoon and about a month before the launch in the rest of the UK.  Taking a quick peek over at IMDB we see the global launch of Toy Story 3 is 16th - 18th June with the UK release set for five weeks later on 23rd July.  You don't have to be a genius, although I may very well be, it's just not required.  Now there is just the small matter of waiting 7 months until the EIFF box office opens.  Oh yeah, that and negotiating with Pixar / Disney to get the rights to scoop the rest of Europe (excluding Cannes) to make this happen (but this is really a small detail isn't it).  Remember you read it here first and remember that you've got a friend in me...

26 August 2009

The Top Comedy Award - You Are Having A Laugh!

With baited breath, I waited well past 12pm for the first nominees under the new name, the Eddies (or Nica Burns presents the 29th Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2009).  What came through was comedy of such a level that I feel naughty for not buying a ticket to read it!  First off, Rhod Gilbert is not on the list and clearly is disqualified for being a star ("regularly selling out 500+ seat venue based on their name alone", i.e. three extra shows filled up the 700 seat Grand in less than a week).  So this should be a battle between the Pajama Men and Dan Antopolski, plus a few other interesting names...  But it's not.  First off, the lack of Pajama Men *and* Dan Antopolski is outrageous.  Yes they have both been around for a while but I am not aware of any regulations that would rule out either of them.  Dan has won Best One Liner of the Festival and Pajama Men scoped the top award in Melbourne for last year's show (Versus vs Versus) whilst this year's show is a lot better (and nearly perfect).  As I mention earlier, it seems like the panel just do not like agreeing in anyway with the Melbourne nominees (and I'm not counting Kristen Schaal last year as she co-won in Oz for her solo show and was nominated in Edinburgh for a double act play).  Needless to say Celia Pacquloa doesn't get a look in as a newcomer, although she was invited to play at Edinburgh so maybe that rules her out.

So who does make the list?  Tom Wrigglesworth (called it) and Jon Richardson (not a surprise but I though he might be eaked out) are both there plus four others (it's a six entry shortlist this year, making up for the shortened four entries last year).  With six spaces any sane person would imagine Andrew Lawrence and probably Wehn & Kuhnle being in with a good shout of being on the list.  Well you'd be a fool!  John Bishop and perennial nominee Russell Kane both get nods a while both did good shows they weren't brilliant.  Neither of these shows can hold a candle to any of the aforementioned acts and it is quite a shock for them to be on the list with the presence of such competition.  The final two are Idiots of Ants (a sketch group, I guessed Adam Riches's show Rogue Males instead but you would expect a show like this) and Tim Key (a deadpan poet).  The one positive is that everyone is a relative unknown so a star will be made (I was kind of hoping that Rhod would no longer be eligible as he is practically meteoric right now).  The smart money will be on the smart material, Jon Richardson to follow up his newcomer nomination from  two years ago to scoop the top award.  You read it here first!