Answer: only when it's fictional

Welcome to new Follower, wiec?, the living acronym from When Is Evil Cool? ( Answer above. ) The guy in the pic hopefully qualifies as both evil and cool. I wouldn't mess with him anyway.

First day back at work

                                                            When's the next holiday?

Set the controls for Inner Space

So I turned on Channel 4 News last night to hear that JG Ballard had died the day before. Bad news. Ballard was one of the most important writers of the last 50 years, a first-rate SF author who went on to conquer the so-called mainstream with his unblinking view of the modern world.
In the May/June 1964 issue of New Worlds magazine Ballard wrote an article about William Burroughs, called "20th Century Myth Maker", in which JG praised Burroughs for creating "the first authentic mythology of the age of Cape Canaveral, Hiroshima and Belsen." Ballard could very well have been talking about himself. His world of grim tower-blocks, deserted swimming-pools, sterile business parks and rainswept motorways is our world, no need for SF trappings. His lost, self-destructive characters inhabit a recognisable media landscape of the late 20th / early 21st century. I'm sure Ballard would find it ironic and fitting that most obituaries seemed to concentrate on his filmed novels, Crash and Empire Of The Sun, because they were more readily recognisable and assimilated into the culture. Top marks to Martin Amis who spoke eloquently about his friend Ballard on the aforementioned Channel 4 News and managed to sideswipe Jon Snow's dumb, superficial questions.



On a lighter note, a big Hello to new Follower, Continually Spicy. This blog is still in semi-hibernation but I hope you can find something worth reading here. Stay spicy!

Cornwall 2009

We've been down in St. Ives for the last week, hence no posts for a while.
Apart from a couple of wet days ( and I mean WET ) we've had good weather and a great time. We had a beautiful day at Land's End ( complete with Doctor Who exhibition where Sarah and Sophie got er, slightly spooked by some Daleks and Cybermen ) and a ROASTING day on Porthmeor Beach at St. Ives. Loadsa coastal walks, rock climbing etc. Really don't want to go home, but I suppose I need to go back to work to pay for all of this. Bummer, dude. ( Bloody Hell, this surfer lingo is contagious. )

The boys are back in town.

Yay, the Boys From The Dwarf are back!!! It's been a long, long wait but, thanks to Dave ( of all channels ), the original space-bums have returned.

And what a relief to find it all done so well! Co-creator Doug Naylor is onboard, writing and directing, the Boys are on fine form, the new sets and effects look surprisingly expensive and, best of all, the characterisation and humour are spot on. The last two series on BBC2 had seen the show drifting as erratically as Red Dwarf itself, but this first new episode has recaptured the glory days for me. Lister is still a slob with a heart of gold, Rimmer is still the ultimate jobsworth, Kryten is still a fussy but well-meaning bog-bot, and the Cat has been returned to his original characterisation of a narcissistic feline fashion-victim. Unfortunately we're missing the Dwarf's deranged computer, Holly, but that's my only complaint.

The first episode was great fun, featuring a sea-monster in the ship's watertank, a very fit looking possible replacement for Rimmsey in the form of Sophie Winkelman, some great dialogue, and the Cat confusing the word "tentacle" with "testicle".  Two more episodes to watch this weekend ( not to mention Doctor Who and Primeval ).....

Happy smeggin' Easter!

Soundtrack: Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

I'm still alive!

Still sitting here in blog-limbo ( although a blog-limo might be better ) so posts are necessarily short and possibly sweet. You decide.
Over at the spoiler-tastic ( but wonderful ) Planet Gallifrey there are some new pics of the latest Doctor Who filming, including shots of a certain Ms. Noble. Lots of squeeing and general OMGness in the comments section. Even though it will be great to see Donna again, I'm hoping that the Doctor will not meet her face to face ( as seems to be indicated by the overheard dialogue ) as this will again undermine an emotional parting of the ways from a previous season - as with the Bad Wolf Bay ending. Donna's story seemed to have a definite conclusion and hopefully RTD won't compromise that for a ratings boosting reunion.
Anyway, before that we've got The Planet Of The Dead to explore, only a few days to go...

Hello...

Things haven't changed since my last post: home PC still feeling poorly, posting this from work out of prying eyes of bosses etc.
Welcome to new Follower Kitty, thanks for showing an interest in such a ( currently ) dull blog. Hopefully that will change soon and we'll get back to whatever passes for normality around here.