» April 2006 Archives
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
» "I like what you've done with your hair, oh yeah"
Well, after a good few months and many moans I've finally realised that I actually really like The Darkness' second album One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back. Talk about being a slow grower. I honestly can't think of another album that I've gone from pretty much hating to loving before. For this I can only thank Justin Hawkins and Jonathan Ross for prompting me to listen to it again just now.
Moral of the story? Always be prepared to eat your words.
» OD/G&T/Flange Log Downtime
Just a quick note to apologise for the amount of downtime for our sister sites, Ganymede & Titan, Observation Dome, and Flange Log at the moment. We're trying to sort out the problem. No idea why we're getting Bad Gateway errors at present.
Note that G&T is currently half-asleep at the moment anyway - me and Ian are taking a bit of time out to concentrate on the redesign. More soon, with any luck - it should be pretty big...
» P.O.V 3 - Get Down With The Downloads
Well, that was dreadfully crap of me. I managed two editions of P.O.V. in the first two weeks and then it all fell apart. Still, never mind. As a result of this I’m going to forgo the weekly nature of the column completely and just write it whenever something comes to mind. I’ll get stuck into a proper weekly column, when I launch my currently untitled ‘Good Website/Bad Website’ column soon. Anyway, enough of this gay banter. What I really want to talk about today is the downloading (both illegal and legal) of television shows.
» Complete Amazem-ant
Taken from Newsarama:
- Shaun of the Dead co-writer Edgar Wright is adapting Ant-Man. Wright will direct and co-write the film version with Joe Cornish.
Anything new from Edgar Wright is cool, but Joe Cornish too?! Never in a million years would I have expected to see that name next to an Ant-Man film.
Given the love of the medium that these two guys have, any script by them will almost certainly be excellent, and let's face it, Ant-Man doesn't give you a lot to work with. With their involvement, I'm expecting that it'll be quite heavy on the comedy, which could upset the hardcore Ant-Man fans. Both of them. For a small (ha!) character like this, it's good to see that Marvel's willing to take the chance and give it to people who might be able to do something new and interesting with the character instead of the generic Hollywood molestation (Catwoman team, we're looking at you...)
The real question is where do we start placing our bets, the Hank Pym or Scott Lang version? Let's face it, the smart money has to be on Lang.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
» Drop The Dead Donkey: Series 2 Mini-Review
With Series 4 coming out on 24th July, I thought I'd better cover Series 2 and 3 at some point as well. But as a lot of my comments about the releases are the same as for my Series 1 review, I thought a little mini-review would be in order, rather than a great hulking review repeating exactly the same things. So, bearing in mind my comments about the packaging,menus, and presentation of the episodes are the same as for the first release, what has Series 2 got to offer?
Continue reading "Drop The Dead Donkey: Series 2 Mini-Review" »
» Noise To Noise, Part One: That Media Site
A series of articles about the development of this site? Surely that's possibly the most self-indulgent article that I could ever post?
That's undoubtedly true, of course; still, the first incarnation of Noise To Signal is notable for one important fact: it failed. Utterly. In a way that made everyone involved lose interest in even posting on the site. And I've never done a design that just didn't work, before. Sure, early G&T isn't great (well, neither is the current design - but I'll get onto that in another article), but it works. The first NTS design just didn't. So, what valuable lessons can be learned from this?
Continue reading "Noise To Noise, Part One: That Media Site" »
» Wii Wii
Wii? Wii?
What the fuck is "Wii"?
Never mind the fact that people have been calling the thing the "Revolution" for however many years... now you have to go and give it the worst name in the history of consoles? Not to mention one that also happens to be the name of a bodily function (and yes, according to the website, you pronounce it to rhyme with "wee")?
For fuck's sake, Nintendo!
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
» Panel Beating - 25th April 2006
Blah, blah, blah, Panel Beating late again. Blah, blah, blah, lots of other writing on the go. Blah, blah, blah, only Ex Machina Special and Manhunter (a) available in shop and (b) worth reviewing. Blah, blah, blah, views on last week's Superman and Green Arrow as well.
» Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife
Ricky Gervais, writing and starring in The Simpsons? You couldn't make it up. But could Gervais' episode, which reached British shores via Sky One this week, rise above the level of dross that the once-greatest-ever sitcom has been mired in for some years?
» The Creeping Terror
Another death knell is sounded for early hours TV programming as the Quiz Call channel gets its own weekly slot on Five.
Monday, April 24, 2006
» Maturity, there
Blame this on the fact that my job currently involves Googling the telephone numbers of various academics, lecturers, teachers and professors so that I can ask them questions about free books they've been sent, and the fact that while looking for someone else I recently found a "Dr Chris Eccleston"...
... but I dare someone to phone up one of these people and ask "Is that Doctor Hu...?"
Sunday, April 23, 2006
» Block to the Future: A Tetris DS Review
For as long as civilisation has been recorded, man has loved to shift blocks. From the ancient monument of stonehenge, to the pyramids of egypt, block-pushing has been one the most popular passtimes. It was no surprise, then, that when Alexey Pazhitnov created Tetris in 1985, it went on to become one of the world's most popular video games and virtually spawned an entire genre of gaming. Which, a couple of decades licensing loopholes and legal wrangling, brings us to today. Tetris has seen its latest release, this week, in the form of Tetris DS, for Nintendo's latest handheld, coincidentally called the Nintendo DS.
Continue reading "Block to the Future: A Tetris DS Review" »
» Doctor Who - Tooth and Claw
There was a lot of talk about this episode pre-transmission. After the mediocrity of New Earth expectations were and high and people were saying this looks like a more “traditional†episode. “Traditional†in this sense seems to mean “well, it looks it could belong in that 70s era of the show, when it was having a damn good stab at being a horrorâ€.
This week's Doctor Who sees our traveling buddies mixing with Royalty and Werewolf in an atmospheric tale set in the mysterious Torchwood Manor...
» Alternate Cover - 23rd April 2006
Suddenly! New Avengers #18, X-Men #185, Daredevil #85 and Spider-Woman: Origin #5! Excitement!
» Chris Moyles
Here's a question. Why does nobody like Chris Moyles?
» "CHOSEN MEN!"
Fucking, yes!
Tonight, 9:00pm, ITV1 - Sharpe's Challenge 1/2
Tomorrow, 9:00pm, ITV1 - Sharpe's Challenge 2/2
Watch this, everyone!
Saturday, April 22, 2006
» Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?
In my continuing mission to follow the every bowel movement of the Sheffield lads, I thought I’d post my thoughts on their brand new EP, Who The Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys, to be released this Monday.
So, In a move that had the NME clasping, mid-orgasm, for the Kleenex, Arctic Monkeys took the bold move of turning their third single (The View From The Afternoon) into an EP, and treating us all to 4 brand new songs.
Friday, April 21, 2006
» Spider-Man loves Mary Jane - issues 1-4
Mary-Jane's made it to 12 issues of her own title - no small feat, but has it found its audience, and who might they be? I've checked out the last 4 issues to see just what writer Sean McKeever and artist Takeshi Miyazawa have come up with.
Continue reading "Spider-Man loves Mary Jane - issues 1-4" »
» Peter Cadbury (1918 - 2006)
Peter Cadbury, founder of Westward, died on April 17th. There's an article here, along with his obituary.
And another bit of the old ITV dies.
» Awwwwwwwww
Read this. Gives you a warm glow all over, doesn't it?
Then read this. And after you've unstuck yourself from your seat, GET SUGGESTING.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
» Stonkingly Good Music News
Alright, so it will mean nothing to 99.9% of the world's population at large, but the reformation of one of the most staggeringly inventive, beautiful, tuneful and downright wonderful indie pop bands this country has ever produced is really a quite breathtakingly good bit of news.
I met Dan Popplewell on a train last year, I did. Lovely bloke, he was. Wish I could meet him again, and shake him by the hand in fevered excitement and joy at him finally doing the right thing and getting the band back together.
» Local... a Supernatural Fantasy?
After having finally discovered Brian Wood's Local (a perennial favourite of fellow NTS writer James) by virtue of my LCS actually having all its first few issues in, and having enjoyed it immensely, I did the usual thing I do when I discover something a little while after everyone else - went back and read some reviews of it.
In the case of comics, that doesn't leave you very many decent places to turn to. It's certainly not worth going anywhere near the reviews that Ain't It Cool offers, while the quality of Silver Bullet's reviews are frustratingly inconsistent. Paul O'Brien is probably the best comics reviewer on the 'net, but he rarely focuses on anything other than X-Men books (which he's perfectly entitled to do - it is an X-Men site, after all). So that really only leaves The Fourth Rail, which has taken a battering in recent months due to a lengthy hiatus and, finally, the departure of one of its two reviewers. It's still worth reading on a weekly basis, but it feels a lot more lightweight than it used to.
Anyway, I went back and read the review of Local #1 that the site had up, and was surprised to read the following :
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
» Mummy WOW! I'm a big kid now
Here's a question. How many things did you love as a kid, but you don't love now?
» Bullseye: Insert Hilarious Catchphrase Here
Bullseye on ITV1, with Peter Kay? Or Bullseye on Challenge, with Dave Spikey? The former would have inflicted groans in me - over-produced in a flashy studio several times the size of the old show, with the game being secondary to Peter Kay fucking about. The fact they went with the latter, however, induced the hope that the might not fuck it up after all. And not fucking old shows up is a rarity these days.
Continue reading "Bullseye: Insert Hilarious Catchphrase Here" »
» Alternate Cover - 16th April 2006
A week where so much acheives so little. Well, Vertigo titles are characteristically strong with DMZ #6 and American Virgin #2, and Ms. Marvel #2 holds up the Marvel team, but it's straining under the weight of, Thunderbolts #101, Uncanny X-Men #472 and Ultimate X-Spider-Man #93 - but which of this week's comics is so horrible it make me inarticulate with rage?!
Monday, April 17, 2006
» Doctor Who - New Earth
He's back - and it's about fucking time. But could New Earth sate the quite ridiculous amounts of anticipation that have been building since last Christmas? On NTS, of course, we've all bloody got something to say about Doctor Who, so each week we'll be bringing you the opinions of not one, but two of our writers. God, we spoil you.
» New Bullseye
Tonight. 10pm. Challenge TV.
That is all.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
» Drop The Dead Donkey: The Complete 1st Series
1990 Channel 4 sitcom set in a newsroom. Read Lewisohn if you need more background; let's get on with the DVD, shall we?
Continue reading "Drop The Dead Donkey: The Complete 1st Series" »
» Talking 'bout my M-M-Mull of Kintyre
I've just seen a trailer for a BBC ONE show called "The McCartneys versus The Fur Trade" or something similar. The McCartneys. This is a programme about Paul McCartney and his wife, and their battles against animal-based clothing. That's Paul McCartney. So, what song did they chose to use on the trailer, for the show about Paul McCartney?
Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who.
It's not as if that bloke in the show has got a huge back catalogue of well known songs, though, is it?
» He's Alan Partridge...
Ever wondered what makes Alan Partridge such a significant creation in British comedy? His Royal Highness Sir Philip Reed offers us an analysis of Alan's psyche, and, as Freud said, it's all down to sex.
Ladies and gentlemen: Alan Partridge and the Maturity Paradox in Bravealan.
» Kettering 5 Review
Here's a question for you. When your darling girlfriend writes for a fanzine, and when you've already done a plug for the damn thing, how unbiased and independent can a review you write of it be? The answer is, of course, that you can't prove it at all - all I can say is that if anything I tend to be even more critical than usual when writing reviews of things like this to over-compensate. I just thought I'd acknowledge it, in case Private Eye ring up. But onto the 'zine.
Friday, April 14, 2006
» The Beautiful Games - Part One
Just as playing football has been an integral part of culture for approximately as long as civilisation has existed, so too have people always sought out new ways to replicate it indoors. It's unsurprising, therefore, that ever since computer games first began to appear in the mass market around the early 1980s, one of our longest strives has been to find a way to create a perfect recreation of the world's most beautiful game. As both a gaming nut and a football nut, I've played a good percentage of these games in my time; and so here, I present to you part one of Noise To Signal's potted history of football games.
» Tomb Raider Legend
In which I weigh in with my thoughts on the recently completed Tomb Raider: Legend - how does it compare to the previous few Tomb Raider games, and are you even likely to care anymore? Not a full review, more of a collection of impressions now that I'm done with the game.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
» You useless, cretinous moron
A Times Online writer attempts to prove the popularity of Doctor Who is symptomatic of our cultural infantilisation in a shockingly badly written comment piece.
» Shitemare!!!!!!!1111
"Actually, as I write, I realise that I haven't seen Knightmare for sodding years."
So, why write about it?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
» Panel Beating - 11th April 2006
Before long, I think I'm going to have to change the title of this column to "Never Comes Out On Time". Either that, or I'll just start aiming to post my reviews on a Monday or Tuesday, rather than the frankly quite over-optimistic Saturday. Anyway, this week sees things actually start quite majorly happening in Infinite Crisis, while they just get more interesting in Detective Comics. Teen Titans provides One Year Later's most blatant example so far of a handy expository issue, while Ex Machina gets more disturbingly topical by the minute (more so for Londoners than for New Yorkers this week), and joy rings out as we're blessed with another issue of Ellis and Cassaday's magnum opus Planetary.
» Alternate Cover Special - Superior Showcase #1
Every once in a while comes a week of comics so uninspiring that there's just no way I'll be able to review them. This week's big release was "Moon Knight #1" for christ's sake, and I can't even pretend to be interested, doubly so now that I've read it. Instead, I'm going to review the one comic I did buy: Adhouse Books' Superior Showcase #1 as part of a larger article about the differences between indie and superhero comics.
Continue reading "Alternate Cover Special - Superior Showcase #1" »
Friday, April 7, 2006
» My Arse
Aherne working on new Royle Family "special".
Hmm. I'm really not so sure about this. As much as I loved The Royle Family at the time, it was very much of its time, and I really don't think that revisiting it is necessarily a surefire good idea. British comedy has moved on since then - and so has Craig Cash, having created the funnier, warmer and cleverer Early Doors. Aherne, meanwhile, hasn't produced anything of note since Jim Royle uttered the immortal words "Roger, my arse!", and this smacks of a desperate attempt to recapture past glories.
You want my opinion? Get Cash cracking on a third series of Early Doors instead. Or, at the very least, something new with a good chunk of the same cast. As for The Royle Family... if there ever was a time to make more episodes of it, I think that time has been and gone. But we shall see.
» Jonestown
A word of warning: this post is not for the squeamish. If you're feeling particularly delicate at the moment, don't read the rest of this. Look, I'll even make it easy for you - just don't click on the link below if you want something fun to read. Go and read my Knightmare article instead.
Thursday, April 6, 2006
» The Style Contest
This was announced way back last week, but I just thought I'd mention it - I'm going to have a go at this.
I've no chance of winning, but what better way to try and stretch your design skills? Go on - have a bash at it. AND AFTER THAT YOU CAN ENTER THE STYLE CONTEST.
Wednesday, April 5, 2006
» My Fantasy DVD: Knightmare Series 1
There are certain activities that are both enjoyable and depressing. And coming up with Fantasy DVDs is one of them. Of course, the ratio of enjoyable/depressing varies, depending on how likely the release is...
So in the first of an occasional series, here's my fantasy DVD for Series 1 of the classic CITV series Knightmare. I've tried to keep it to things that are relevant to the first series - there's loads of stuff I haven't mentioned, like the 1992 unbroadcast US pilot, but things like that would be more suited to later series.
(Incidentally, for all you ever need to know about series (most of the information in this article is nicked directly from there), visit Knightmare.com - one of the best fansites on the net full stop. I'm fairly proud of Ganymede & Titan, but that site puts it well in the shade.)
Tuesday, April 4, 2006
» Panel Beating - Quick Bites 4th April 2006
Well, sorry about the delay, folks. Not getting Panel Beating out last weekend was largely due to my own laziness and being on a trip home for the weekend, but this past week has also been quite busy and not without some unwanted and unpleasant distractions. So, then, in an attempt to fill the void, here's a quick overview (some quicker than others!) of the past couple of weeks' worth of releases...
Continue reading "Panel Beating - Quick Bites 4th April 2006" »
Monday, April 3, 2006
» HA HA HA HA HA
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1743351,00.html
"Mr Davies said he was still angry that Queer as Folk, his seminal gay drama from the late 90s, never got a Bafta."
HA HA, SEMINAL!
» A Bit of Fry and Laurie - Series 1 (DVD)
"Oh, I think this is going to give me an erection"
The wait has been fair too long, but finally Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie's quite superb sketch show is receiving its own DVD release. Hurrah, basically. If nothing else, the opportunity to hear Fry say the word “trouser†in crystal clear quality is worth the admission price alone.
Continue reading "A Bit of Fry and Laurie - Series 1 (DVD)" »
Sunday, April 2, 2006
» Alternate Cover - 2nd April 2006
It's one mediocre week for marvel as even a Bendis fanboy like me manages to find fault with everything I read. Perhaps I'm overreacting, perhaps not - either way, I'm hear to share my problems with New Avengers: Illuminati, Fantastic Four #536, The Sentry #7, Uncanny X-Men #471 and Ultimate X-Me... sorry, that's Ultimate Spider-Man #92. Don't hate me because I'm needlessly bitter.