Archive for December, 2007

We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet

Published by
Dan
at December 31, 2007 in General. 18 Comments

It’s half past nine on New Years Eve and everyone is out and about, drinking too much, and generally having a good time. Everyone, that is, except me. I’m stuck at work, twiddling my thumbs and watching Graham Norton’s end of year quiz on BBC1. Ahh, life on the front line of psychiatric services.

One of the questions on the show was “Which month did Gordon Brown take over as Prime Minister from Tony Blair.” and the host was amazed when one of the contestants got it right (“How on earth did you know that!?”). However there was not a single exclamation of surprise when one of the teams knew that it was Hugh Grant who threw a can of baked beans at a member of the paparazzi. That, my friends, is a prime example of why western civilisation is doomed.

Of course I didn’t actually know when Gordon Brown took over myself. But I am far too cerebral to lower myself to the petty concerns of you mere mortals. That’s my story anyway.

2007 was a pretty good year for us. We took a trip to Chicago where I sang Karaoke for the first time in roughly 10 years. We went to see Greg and Deb in Wisconsin and they took us to see a room full of very, very, scary dolls. We watched lots of Battlestar Galactica and Heroes. And we revelled in our ever-deepening love for our children.

2008 will be the year Amy starts school. The year Kerry throws herself into her new job. The year where I walk 78 miles in 5 days. And if luck goes our way, the year where I go part time in order to spend more time with the kids. Fingers crossed on that one.

Here’s to a great 2008. Happy New Year everybody.

A night out with the lads

Published by
Dan
at December 29, 2007 in Photo posts. 18 Comments

Sometimes I wish I lived in the southern hemisphere.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an overwhelming desire. I don’t lay awake at nights fantasising about water swirling the opposite way down the plughole or anything. But there has been a little antipodean niggle in the back of my brain ever since I can remember.
 
Of course my brother isn’t doing much to help.  He’s recently immigrated to Australia and his blog is full of wonderful views of Sydney and Rainbow Lorikeets.  The bloody swine.
 
My urge to live down under was particularly to the fore on Thursday evening.  Christmas is celebrated in the summer in Australia, you see. Which means that if your friend receives a swanky new camera as a present, and you agree to go out with him and play with it, you will be out taking photos in the warm soothing Ozzie summer evening.  I, however, live in England. Which means that when my friend gets a new camera and we go out to play with it we do so in the freezing cold with rain being driven horizontally into our foreheads.
 
On Thursday evening Paul, Oli, and myself spent an enjoyable hour messing around with various knobs and buttons on our cameras amd taking photos of the M62 motorway in the dark. We then spent an even more enjoyable hour in the pub trying to massage life back into our frozen extremities. Despite the wind and the rain and the fact our only source of light was Paul’s toy Dr Who sonic screwdriver (*cough* geek *cough*) I had a really great time. It was the first time I’ve been out photographing with anyone other than Kerry, and it was rather refreshing not to have to wrestle for the sole camera all the time.

Despite him being a regular commenter on the blog and our social circles have overlapped for the past ten years or so I’ve not spent all that much time with Oli before. To be fair, the fact he lives in Scotland and only comes back to Yorkshire for Christmas and such like probably hasn’t helped matters. Anyway, he’s a jolly pleasant chap and i look forward to walking 78 miles together in July.

Most of the shots I got on our photo expedition were pretty box standard and clichéd, but I did get a couple of good ones by wiggling my camera about a bit. I really fancy having a go at light painting next.

road.jpg

Born to be wild

Published by
Dan
at December 28, 2007 in Photo posts. 3 Comments

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I shouldn’t have

Published by
Kerry
at December 27, 2007 in General. 11 Comments

(Dan still can’t face blogging so I thought I’d let him off for one more night)

  1. I shouldn’t have said “Yes, I’ll take photos at your family party” when it was dark and rainy and I had to use flash
  2. I shouldn’t have watched War of the Worlds on Christmas Eve. A planet full of Kids in Peril was not really conducive to the Holiday spirit. Or comforting during my current bouts of insomnia.
  3. I shouldn’t have stayed up ’til 2 am to finish reading American Gods although it was very good (and it mentions the mythical portal to the Gods that is the House on the Rock).
  4. I shouldn’t have said “I think Evan’s getting better” when in reality he had at least 2 more days of throwing up left to do.
  5. I shouldn’t have been so polite when the lady at Yorkshire Water informed me I might be without running water over Christmas. It came back after 4 hours, which was just as well. I would have ended up apologising to her if she wasn’t careful. That would have shown them.
  6. I probably shouldn’t have chosen Super Saver Delivery on my parcel from Amazon, that didn’t arrive in time for Christmas. Sorry Dad - it’s a cool present when it decides to arrive!
  7. And I definitely shouldn’t have offered to write a post tonight as I’m not as good as Dan. But don’t tell him I said that :)

Dec 24 25

Published by
Dan
at December 25, 2007 in Lists. 13 Comments

I’m a little late with my final advent entry. A combination of not being able to get off work early, Christmas parties, and present wrapping meant that blogging had to be shifted down the priorities list yesterday.

Still, I couldn’t leave the series without doing:


[Open the door / Close the door]

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

“By the power of Greyskull”

Not to be confused with He Man (何曼), a chinese military commander in the peasant rebellion against the Han dynasty in 220AD (it’s true, look it up). No, this is something far more significant than a legendary chinese rebel who’s name has managed to live on throughout nearly two thousand years of history. We’re talking Saturday morning TV here. We’re talking shoddy poor quality animation. We’re talking a cultural phenomenon that still resounds today in the very soul of the entire globe (providing the globe consists purely of Western males between the ages of 25 and 35 that is). We’re talking He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

I am Adam, Prince of Eternia, Defender of the Secrets of Castle Greyskull. This is Kringer, my fearless friend.  Fabulous, secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said: “By the Power of Greyskull!”

He-Man, He-Man . . . I have the power!

Kringer became the mighty BattleCat and I became He-Man, the most powerful man in the Universe!  Only three others share this secret . . .  Our friends the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms, and Orko.  Together we defend Castle Greyskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. . . . He-Man!

If that quote didn’t provoke a well of nostalgia bubbling up in your heart then you are clinically dead. Well, either dead or you’re not in that western male 25-35 year old demographic (you freak). He-Man was the king of the toy marketing cartoons, rivaled perhaps only by Transformers.

The toys were originally designed as a line for Conan the Barbarian in order to tie in with the 1982 Schwarzenegger film, but Mattel got cold feet about the sex and violence associated with Conan and decided to use the toys for something else. And boy were we glad they did. I even have it on relatively good authority that they stand up to repeated viewing even twenty years later, although I have my doubts about that. However I did sneak a couple of episodes from the Thundercats DVD I got my brother for Christmas and found them surprisingly enjoyable, so you never know.

A live action He-Man movie is rumored to be in pre-production for a release in 2009.

————————–

So that’s it, the end of the All That Comes With It advent colander. You can all start reading the blog again now.

Dec 23

Published by
Dan
at December 23, 2007 in Lists. 8 Comments


[Open the door / Close the door]

My Little Pony

“I love you my little pony”

The My little Pony cartoon series was based on the toys produced by Hasbro.  It was set in the mystical world of Ponyland where the three different types of ponies (Earth Ponies, Pegasus Ponies, and Unicorns) frolicked in the woods and fields of their home, Paradise Estates.  It featured ponies such as Peach Blossom, Rosedust, Northstar and…
 
It’s no good, I just can’t do it.  I just can’t sully my blog with this complete claptrap. In the 80’s the boys got Thundercats and Transformers, and all the girls got Care Bears and My Little Pony. That hardly seems fair.  What happened to equality of the sexes?  Did Florence Nightingale die in vain!?  I am surprised that there wasn’t a uprising in the streets.  Forget burning bras, people should be burning their Barbies.
 
I did discover some interesting things though.  Nancy Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson, played a number of different parts in the show.  In fact by doing  this series on cartoons of the 80’s I’ve been amazed by the number of voice actors that keep cropping up over and over again.  I suppose it was inevitable given that many of the programs were created by the same production studios.
 
So anyway, tomorrow is the last day of advent and so there is only one more cartoon to go.  Any guesses? i’ll give you a clue, it was responsible for one of the funniest lines in Hot Fuzz

Dec 22

Published by
Dan
at December 22, 2007 in Lists. 7 Comments


[Open the door / Close the door]

GI Joe

“G. I. Joe . . .  A Real American Hero  G. I. Joe is there”

The chronically American among you might be surprised to discover that we did not have GI Joe in the UK. Instead we had the vastly superior Action Man. Essentially they were exactly the same thing, but with different names. The reason for this is that GI isn’t a military term over here. In fact the only thing I can think of that uses that particular acronym is Gastro Intestinal which, on the whole, isn’t the best theme for a line of children’s toys.

I’ve a vague recollection of seeing the cartoon on the odd Saturday morning, but it never really glued itself to my consciousness. After it began airing over here Hasbro did bring out a range of 3 3/4 inch high American style action figures, but again I can’t really remember them being very popular.

Apparently there is GI Joe film being produced and scheduled for release in 2009. That’s all well and good, but when is the Visionaries vs Centurions movie that the public are clamoring for going to be produced??

Saturday Review

Published by
Dan
at December 22, 2007 in Review. 11 Comments

A periodic look at stuff I’ve been consuming recently.

Album: Has Been - William Shatner

41SH2TZ7C4L._AA240_.jpgWilliam Shatner’s music career has a bad press. His 1968 album The Transformed Man is pretty widely mocked by all and sundry. I’ve never really heard much of that album aside from the odd excerpt of Lucy in the sky with diamonds, but I’m willing to believe the consensus that it’s main merit is merely as an oddity at the pop culture freakshow.

But Has Been the album he made with Ben Folds in 2004 is really good. It’s really, really, good. I’m not even saying that in a ironic kitschy way. It’s just a great and original piece of work.

Shatner proves himself a talented, intriguing, and self-mocking lyricist. He wrote the words for Fold’s music for all but three of the tracks (novelist Nick Hornby providing lyrics for “That’s me Trying”) and is brutal in his honesty. His takes on his own fame are fascinating (”It hasn’t happened yet”, “Has been”, and “Real”) and his emotion at the death of his wife (”What have you done”) is palpable.

You don’t just get Shatner either. Ben Folds, Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, Lemon Jelly, Henry Rollins, and Brad Paisley all make guest appearances.

It’s just damn good and you should go out and buy it. And if you don’t? Well I just can’t get behind that.

 
icon for podpress  I can't get behind that - William Shatner & Henry Rollins [3:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (433)

Dec 21

Published by
Dan
at December 21, 2007 in Lists. 3 Comments


[Open the door / Close the door]

Thundercats

“Thunder, thunder, thunder, Thundercats Ho!”
 
It’s the home stretch now, so it’s time to break out the big guns.  Thundercats ran for five seasons between 1985 and 1990.  The program followed the adventures of a band of refugees who have fled the dying world of Thundera and crash landed on Third Earth.  There they battled the evil Mumm-Ra and his allies the Mutants as well as various space pirates and other random baddies.
 
The show followed the formula of many of its ilk.  Multiple characters in order to allow a large range of toys, a main protagonist who is an inexperienced yet heroic young male,  a comedy sidekick (snarf snarf), and, while there was lots of violence, there was no bloodshed.
 
Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, and Wilykit & Wilykat.  Heroes each and every one of them.  Personally my favourite always fluctuated between Panthro and Wilykit & Wilykat, but there are many amongst my generation who cite Cheetara as a big… influence on their youth.  However I was never that keen on Lion-O; as far as I could make out his entire power consisted of calling the other Thundercats to bail him out whatever trouble he had blundered into.  If I were one of the team (I see myself as a bit of a Housecatara) I’d tell his where to stick his bloody Sword of Thundera.

Apparently there will be a CGI Thundercats film released in 2008. Jolly good!

Dec 20

Published by
Dan
at December 20, 2007 in Lists. 7 Comments


[Open the door / Close the door]

Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Night

“Whispered secrets of a shattered age, I summon you: renew this sage!”

Another one which I’m guessing will cause a few of you to go huh? Visionaries was set in a futuristic alternative dimension where technology had failed and the second age of magic had just begun. A group of knights set off on a quest to conquer Iron Mountain and be granted magical powers by mystical Merklynn the Wizard. Quite where they got the knights from at such short notice I’m not quite sure, I’m not convinced our own current crop of knights in the UK would be much good on a quest. Although saying that, I’d pay good money to see Sir Elton John and Sir Tom Jones battle a fire breathing dragon or two.

Anyway, only fourteen knights succeeded in their quest and, by a strange quirk of fate, exactly half of them turned out to be good and the other half evil. The goodies named themselves the Spectral Knights and the baddies the Darkling Lords. Each knight had a hologramatic totem on their chest which acted both as the source of their power and also as a unique geeky selling point for the toys.

The series only lasted thirteen episodes, the toys were withdrawn within a year, and the comic book was cancelled after six issues. But it was bloody fantastic while it lasted. I think it was the faint air of King Arthur that appealed to me, I used to be a sucker for anything Arthurian. You can the entire series now on DVD for just £9.98. What the hell, I’m going to buy it goddamnit!

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