Beer on Tap!

Wow, imagine that...


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4802928.stm

Digital Detox

The perfect way to catch a nap at work:

Red Carpet Ruckus

It's Oscar time this weekend, and Aunty Beeb has put together the complete party surival kit:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4770162.stm

New Video Podcast

I've just launched a new video podcast, which is a serialised preview of an interactive educational DVD I've just completed work on. It's designed to encourage creative writing for high school students aged 11-14 and is called 'The Write Kit'. The exercise we're previewing, 'The Bomb', teaches students how to write a story in a structured manner by revealing details at key points. It would be great to get some general feedback, so please click here and subscribe to The Write Kit video podcast!

My new favourite thing

I love BT's new text service. Before, if you sent a text message to a land line the recipient would get a computerised voice reading it out to them. Well now they've re-launched the service with Doctor Who legend Tom Baker! Apparently he recorded around 12,000 words and phrases. Try it: just send a text to a land line number. Hours of fun making the Doctor say silly things! I just made him sing Sir Mix-a-Lot's 'Baby Got Back'..

Round-Robin Email of the Week

Click the image to enlarge:



In addition, according to Popbitch:

It's a shame that the pilot whale didn't take a wrong turn and end up in London a few years ago, because whales used to be the responsibility of the Queen Mother, as Warden of the Cinq Ports. She was supposed to make sure "that beached whales were given a proper burial, and that at least one tooth from each beached whale was extracted and sent to the Natural History Museum." All whales beached in British waters are owned by the Crown. Historically, the Sovereign claimed only the tongue, the tastiest bit, and gave the carcass to the local community to eat.

Whistle while you work...

I recently updated my computer to the new version of the Mac operating system, 'Tiger'. One of the new features is that you can have all these mini programs running on your desktop, called 'Widgets'. Typically they offer weather forecasts, calculator, currency conversion etc etc, but the coolest of all has to be one I just downloaded called Sing that ITune!. It automatically scans the web for the lyrics to whatever is playing in ITunes. Amazing! As far as I can tell there are two ways of having fun with this: one is to sing along like a lunatic to all those cheesy records in your library, and the other is to set it challenges and see if it can return lyrics for some of the more bizzare records in your collection.


If anyone else is using Sing that ITune, I'd love to hear what the most interesting lyrics you've come across are. My best so far is the Britney Spears Chris Cox megamix: "(Spoken) Can you turn my up a little?"

Superdooper Soapstars

By all logic it should be rubbish, but for some reason I'm addicted to Soapstar Superstar. I'm not normally one for reality shows, and only watch X-Factor and Pop Idol for the bad auditions, but I'm addicted! Maybe it's because the standard is generally pretty good, or maybe it's because everyone seems to want to win it badly, or maybe it's just great to see Cilla back on the telly... Only thing I don't like is the presenters. Ben Shepherd and Fern Britton together look like a little boy and his mum!



Oh yeah, and I think I'm in love with Shobna Gulati.

Happy New Year

I've always enjoyed new year's eve most when it's spent close to home, and that was certainly the case this year. A few of us went over to my friend Dee's place, which is just around the corner from me. We had an absolutely fantastic evening spent dancing around like lunatics to cheesy videos on the music channels, drinking cocktails of goodness knows what, and playing a game that featured an inventive new use for Vaseline (and it's not nearly as filthy as you might think!). Dee, thank you so much for providing us with the space for such a top night, and I hope you're able to get rid of the unidentified sticky substances from the floor.

This is the coolest thing in the world. Ever.

http://tinyurl.com/bxrj4

A Cock & Bull Story

Last night I went to a BAFTA preview screening of Michael Winterbottom's (24 Hour Party People) new film, A Cock & Bull Story, based on the 16th Century novel, The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy.

It's a genuinely brave film, and stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon as themselves, making the film adaptation of The Life And Opinions Of Tristram Shandy. Confused? You will be. It's self-reference overload, and could easily have gone terribly wrong and been a dreadful film. I'm pleased to say that they pulled it off in style. This is a movie to look out for - it's laugh-out-loud funny and brilliantly clever. Coogan and Brydon work fantastically as a double-act, and the rest of the cast is filled with well known comedy figures, from Stephen Fry to Dylan Moran. Oh, and Gillian Anderson off of the X Files.

After the screening we were treated to a Q&A with Steve Coogan and Tony Wilson. Coogan revealed that he's working on a new character comedy series for transmission next year, that he and Rob Brydon are discussing projects for future collaboration, and that there's "20% of truth" in the stories about him and Courtney Love.

Space Cadets: WTF?!

Can someone expain to me what is entertaining about Space Cadets?!
So we're watching a group of people who think they're training to be space tourists. Only they're not really. They're gonna go in a space shuttle, but it's actually a set in an aircraft hanger. Funny joke? Well, it might be, but in order to fool the contestants successfully, there is obsessive attention to detail. It's not like they're being made to do silly tasks, they're having lectures, seminars and training. Whoever thought this would make good TV? There's no entertainment value in it at all! When all is revealed, the contestants will feel disappointed. We already know it's fake, so there are gonna be no surprises for the viewers - oh, except that one of the actors who is in on the gag fell ill and had to leave.
I really don't get it. If someone can explain the appeal, please do.

I'm going to be rich!!

Hey, check out this email I got today:

Dear sir,
 

I am Mr.Edward Sing, Executive Officer (CEO) of Hong Kong Import & Export Co, Ltd.Our company  deal on Raw Materials eg cocoa,rubber,Cassava,non-metallic minerals such as Calcite, Barytes,Manganese Dioxide,Dolomite Mica China Clay,Mangnese Dioxide,Ferrous (Iron) etc and some ancient art works,we export them into Canada,America and Europe.We are searching for representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our costumers in Canada/America and Europe Presently,we are been owed up to $90,000 and the company in question has agreed to begin installmental payment.If you are willing to assist, you would be paid 10% of the total sum you collect on behalf of my company in any transaction that is passed through you to our company,All you have to do is send to us your full name,detailed mailing address,tel and fax numbers.Once you have done this,I would instruct the company to send the check to you which you would deposit into your account.When the check clears you would then pay the balance, you will be given the opportunity to negotiate your mode of payment which we will pay for your services as our representative.

North West Comedy Awards

Last Friday night saw the North West Comedy awards here in Manchester. A truly glitzy affair of glamour, comedians and c-grade celebrities. (Apparently Joan Rivers was there, but I didn't see her.) The night was hosted by Bradley Walsh, with highlights including a tribute to the recently departed and under appreciated Hovis Presley. Johnny Vegas was genuinely humbled when accepting the 'Les Dawson award for services to North West Comedy'. I was at the bar with him earlier in the evening, when the ridiculously slow service was beginning to take its toll. He offered to put on a celebrity hissy fit to see if it would help the cause. (It didn't, sadly.)


My final memory of the evening was of sitting opposite a well-known soap star who was possibly even more drunk than me. He was chatting up a young lady, and insisting that she would make an absolutely fantastic actress...

Summer has jumped the shark

I've just got back after a couple of days down in 'that London' doing a DVD authoring course. So if anyone needs a DVD Studio Pro certified 'Apple Pro User', then get in touch!!

What's going on with the weather? Spring was pleasant, then we had a few months of dismal, unpredictable climate, and then since September we've had more consistent sunshine and heat than all of July and August combined! Summer should be rebranded 'Winter 2' in my opinion.

Anyway, unfortunately the second podcast has been delayed - 'cause the material we recorded last week was all distorted and crappy, but we're hoping to get something done before the weekend. That depends on my powerbook adapter arriving though - I stood on the plug a few days ago and completely buggered it! So am waiting on a replacement. The events of the Ducie Bridge comedy night were somewhat memorable, though - so we'll be sure to recap on it faithfully.

Coming Soon: The Ducie Bridge Podcast

Yes folks.. I was expecting to upload it tonight, but errm, it requires some editing: it's the first ever podcast recorded at the Jucy Ducie comedy night in Manchester. Drunk hecklers... stage humiliation... and the firing of guns - don't miss The Ducie Bridge Podcast...

I Pity the Fool

Just read this on Media Guardian:


Format of the week: I Pity The Fool, in which the A-Team's Mr T gives advice and a helping hand to people in tricky situations. Really. It goes into production in the US next month.

What connects Madonna and John Shuttleworth?

A splendid evening was had by all last night, as we went to see 'versatile singer/songwriter' John Shuttleworth at the Lowry in Salford Quays. John is in fact a comedy character who is something of a cult figure. He sings ditties such as Shopkeepers in the North are Nice, Betty Turpin, and his very own Eurovision entry, Pigeons in Flight. My favourite of his new tunes has to be Shepherd's Pie: "That shepherd's pie was stunning/ But I'm half way through my pudding/ I can't go back to savory now..."

But to add to our excitement, we spotted a celebrity in the audience! None other than local popster Badly Drawn Boy. Now this isn't the first time we've bumped into Mr Gough - for we also spotted him at one of the Madonna gigs in Manchester last summer. So now I'm assuming that he has similar tastes in popular culture as me and my friends, and I will document any other sightings so that we may build up a profile of what the Drawn one does for fun. I'm going to see Johnny Vegas on Friday, and so will be sure to look out for him there...

Ritchie puts a gun to his head...

You know when you hear bad things about a film, but you kinda want to make your own mind up, then you find yourself thinking 'yup, the critics were spot on'? Well this afternoon I went to see Revolver. Put it this way: the crowd must've been psychic when they started booing at the premiere. The film really is absolute pony. The first third of it was kind of 'okay', but then it just descended into complete and utter nonsense. It takes a big dog to drop a stinker of that magnitude.

But I am a born optimist, so in a desperate attempt to be fair to Mr Ritchie he is definitely a very talented director, and the film's 'look' is pretty cool and stylish. For his next project I believe he just needs two things: a) a script he hasn't written himself, and b) a producer who isn't afraid to say "No!".

Sky News finally gets something right...