And Some More Nerdy Humor

Maybe it's just because I'm a bit tipsy, but I'm finding this hilarious!

And... Some More Weebl And Bob

This whole Weebl And Bob thing is turning into an obsession! I'm totally hooked!

Just Seen: 200 Cigarettes

Well, maybe I'm cheating a little bit on this one - I have just seen it, but it's not the first time. You know how there are some films you just keep catching on TV all the time? Well, a few years ago it kept happening to me with 200 Cigarettes (incidentally, one of my friends is the most extreme example of this phenomenon that I've ever heard of. For a while every time she went home to visit her parents, she would always catch the exact same scene in an episode of Coupling in which Susan is supposed to show one of her boobs to her friends!).
Anyways, I remember quite liking this film at the time. I also remember being a little bit mushy about it because one of the storylines was quite similar to a really complicated relationship I was in at the time. I was pretty interested to see whether my opinion would change after so much time. And... It hasn't. I'm really puzzled by the fact that 200 Cigarettes flopped so spectacularly at the time of its release and garnered almost universally bad reviews. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but it has an all-star cast and an unpretentious, sweet script.
It's 1981, New Year's Eve, and a bunch of twenty-somethings all try to find love on their way to a party. It's just a simple feel-good movie, exactly what it says on the box. If you don't expect too much, I'm sure you'll have a good time with it. It's cheerful, colorful, and its heart is in the right place. I recommend seeing it a few days before New Year's, just to get you in the mood.

Weebl And Bob

For years I've desperately been trying to find a cartoon I saw on MTV2. All I knew is that it featured two egg-like characters that kept talking about pie. I have finally succeeded! Their names are Weebl and Bob and they're just about the funniest thing I've ever seen!

The End! Noooooooooooo!

Russ and Matt, Blackpool Madness

I don't believe this! Russell Brand, the most brilliant comedian on the face of the earth has resigned from his BBC radio show, due to a controversy surrounding some allegedly offensive phone calls made on air. What happened was that Russell and Jonathan Ross left a few voice messages on actor Andrew Sachs' phone, in which Russ commented on having sex with Sachs' granddaughter. Both Sachs and the granddaughter were outraged. "Oh," I hear you say, "So the girl is probably an under-age virgin nun!" Well, no... Actually, Miss Georgina Baillie (also known as Voluptua) is a stripper in a burlesque troupe called Satanic Sluts. And, not that she's milking the whole incident for all it's worth or anything, but she has, in fact confirmed that the sex did happen. Classy!
I am shocked! Surely, Russell has done so many worse things. Him being sacked over this seems almost unreal!
I'm so sad. This show was the one thing that always managed to brighten up my week. How am I gonna keep up with Russell and Matt now? This is a sad day for comedy as well as for freedom of speech.
Russell has always called for a revolution. Let's start one in his honor! Please visit the following links and sign the petitions to return Russ to our radio waves.

Save Ross and Russ

Bring back the radio show

I leave you with a final poem from Mr Gee, the poet laureate of the show.



Apologies in Order

If you mix the components of sex and celebrity,
It forms the perfect remedy for credit crunch therapy,
Add to that a scandal mishandled, so an editor's angle,
Is to form a loving triangle,
A salacious fandango,


Little Britain needs someone to be made an example,
So the critical factors surrounding the bawdiest of banter,
Over "Who slept with who", "Who said what",
Is now a political matter


In Parliamentary chapters,
MP's examine trashy insults,
The wagon circle's full of actors,
Who'll join the band and indulge?



Until the final pin drops,
It's getting colder outside,
It's getting darker much earlier,
Are you taking me for a ride?

I know that drama sells papers,
Whether envisioned or inflated,
The media merry-go-round,
Has come to your town,

As a scapegoated crown is created,
The only glitch in the matrix,
Is that the economy still ain't fixed,
Recession will probably hit,
Unless you've clocked a lottery win,

So honestly then,
If "drama" pays the rent,
Why do you think that outrageous behaviour is the flavour?

It oils the machine from within,
So let's apologise for schoolboy attacks,
But who apologises for going into Iraq?
Who apologises for a mother's cry over a son who's never coming back?
Since apologies are called for, let's not veer from the track,

Who apologises for troop deployment?
A disabled soldier's unemployment,
What's worse: "A bridge too far" or "A joke too far"
Bad political judgement or pop culture enjoyment?

So apologise for dumb pranks,
But apologise for dumber tanks,
Apologise for the cost of a dumb war which crumbled our banks,


If all the world is a stage,
And its clowns now have you enraged,
Think about the apologies never given,
Which turn playgrounds into graves.



© Mr Gee 2008

Just Seen: Wall-e

And I loved it! Which is really weird, because I don't like cartoons at all! But this has got to be the sweetest thing ever! The robots are so cute! I want one for a pet!
Anyways, apart from the fact it gave me a sugar rush, I also liked how the first 40 minutes or so used almost only gestures and facial expressions of the main characters, and there was no speech or people. In fact, I think that if it had gone a slightly different route and left out the humans altogether, it would have been completely perfect. I also thoroughly enjoyed all the Space Odyssey and other sci-fi classics references (there's a lot of that stuff, just pay attention). This is probably one of the best, if not the best cartoon I've ever seen. 9/10

Virginia Schaefer: How to Play Hearts

I SO agree with this... Beautiful!
Source

Just Read: The Dexter Series

So I live on Mars. Shoot me. I've never seen a single episode of Dexter - the TV show. The truth is, I don't watch TV. Almost at all. So, when I heard a review of Jeff Lindsay's novel Dexter In The Dark (the third and, so far, latest in the series) on the BBC books podcast, I had no idea what they were on about, but it sounded interesting. So I decided against seeing the show first, picked up the books and read them.
The three novels, namely Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter In The Dark, were a pretty cool reading experience. Dexter from the title is a forensic blood spatter analyst by day, and a righteous serial killer by night. Childhood trauma has rendered him a psychopath with an inner voice that he refers to as The Dark Passenger. Every once in a while, when the moon is full, the Dark Passenger urges Dexter to kill. However, there are rules, set by his foster dad Harry, who used to be a cop. Dexter is only allowed to kill people who he is absolutely sure have gotten away with murder.
The other notable characters include Dexter's sister Deborah, his girlfriend Rita, and her two children - Astor and Cody. Oh, and Miami, where the books take place. Yes, using a place as one of the protagonists is nothing new, but I like it nevertheless.
In each novel Lindsay manages to come up with brilliant plots, gruesome but innovative murder ideas and a bit of new insight into Dexter's psyche.
The style is playful, with a lot of alliteration, puns and wry remarks, which is a winning combination paired with the narration of the emotionally impaired main protagonist who has almost no understanding of basic human behavioral patterns.
Lindsay does sometimes natter about the Dark Passenger for too long, so although these are pretty short novels, they could have been a bit tighter. Also, you will need to suspend your disbelief at times, as almost every other person in these books is recognized by Dexter as a fellow psychopath (in the novels they can see each other for what they really are, no matter how well they fake being normal). Another thing that bothered me was the unfortunate generalization that anyone who suffers extreme psychological trauma turns into a merciless murderer.
Still, with all their flaws, and though they are fluff (yes, it is slightly weird to label as fluff something in which beheadings are a perennial occurrence), they are very good. They are exciting crime novels with an interesting twist and you can't help noticing that a lot more talent and thought went into them than is usual in this genre.

Current Obsession

I've been obsessed with this beautiful song ever since I heard it in The Jane Austen Book Club (not a bad movie either). Feist's dreamy voice, the sweet lyrics and that melody... I can't stop humming it to myself. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an official video, so this will have to do.

Just Seen: Apocalypto

First of all, Mel Gibson is a despicable man who needs to seek professional help. His movies seem to have the unique ability to make me feel physically ill. Also, on a side note, he couldn't direct his way out of a paper bag.
Apocalypto is a deeply disturbing film, merciless in its brutality. I suspect it also suffers from racism. I don't really know much about the Mayans, but weren't they supposed to have been quite advanced in astronomy? Advanced enough not to act like savages at the sight of a solar eclipse? Also, does anyone else get the feeling that the whole movie (ending with the historically inaccurate scene of the arrival of the Spanish) has a sort of "they had it coming" tone? Especially when you take into consideration that Mel himself said it was "a universal story of exploring civilizations and what undermines them". Ahem, ahem... They got what they deserved, huh Mel?
What I found the most appalling was that all the inhumanity depicted serves no point whatsoever - except maybe to shock, or satisfy Mr Gibson's obvious appetite for sadism.
The storyline is virtually non-existent: there's fifteen minutes of crass sex jokes and then a two hour chase. And that is it. That was all that good old Mel and a certain Farhad Safinia could come up with in the way of a script. Oh hell, who needs a script anyway, just let a few bare-bottomed savages into the jungle and have them run after each other and occasionally smack each other over the head. Great! Throw in a bit of lewd slapstick for good measure, and spice things up with a pointless prophecy. What more could you ask for!
Visually it is incredibly disappointing. It really takes a genius to come up with such bland shots of the jungle. All those possibilities, and we end up with a film that just looks washed out and faded.
All that's left is a feast of unsavory scenes of futile violence. So, next time Mel Gibson mentions he might want to make a movie, would someone just, please, lock him up somewhere away from all the cameras of this world??
p.s. Oh yeah, the costumes and make up are very good. Way to go! That makes it all better!