Wednesday 29 February 2012

Being Human high point

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cpl2l/Being_Human_Series_4_A_Spectre_Calls/

Kirby's disco dancing. Brilliant.

Sunday 26 February 2012

Tempers rising outside of Europe

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,817426,00.html

Nice to see the Chinese, Americans and Russians agreeing over something ... even if it is opposition to a European initiative to reduce pollution.

Saturday 25 February 2012

Saturday Night Blogging

So, a couple of almost completely unrelated things:

I finally got round to watching a very old Dr Who episode that I'd managed to bypass- the one where David Tennett meets Martha Jones for the first time in the hospital trapped on the moon. Quite enjoyed it although the scenes meant to show how intelligent and quick witted Martha was got a bit repetitive after the third one. However, I was most concerned at the end about the implied 'Endor Holocaust' at the end of the episode.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoEndorHolocaust

In the brilliant book Babel 17, by Samuel Delany, a weapons manufacturer talks about one of his previous successes. It is a bomb that explodes at a strength sufficient to demolish a building. The idea is that a lot of ambulances, police cars and experts arrive to clean up and estimate the cause of the blast ... at which point the bomb explodes again with the force of a full nuclear bomb.

This sci-fi anecdote may seem unrelated but I imagine when the hospital disappeared it would generate a similar response. Reporters, mechanics, plumbers and police would rush to the area to see what had happened and seal off all of the now severed utility pipes. You might imagine that a fair few of them would still have been in or near the crater edge when the building fell from the skies. Grisly.

On a less tangential note, I've been playing the demo to 'Debug Formulation' after the wonderful chaps at Rock Paper Shotgun brought its existence to my attention. You should try it - it times out after a while and can get a but repetitive. However, the music and presentation is spot on and the enemy resurrection mechanic makes it a lot more clever than it initially seems.

Finally, why not check out 'How to play blog'? They've just finished a Solium Infernum report, which after stagnating for a bit has a really tense ending. Haven't really explored the rest of the site but it is very shiny and run by Sheffield Uni students which are both good credentials to have.

http://www.howtoplayblog.co.uk/

Phew!

Thursday 9 February 2012

Being Human returns (much changed!)

[Spoilers ahead]

So I was unexpectedly notified that Being Human had returned for a fourth season when I saw a BBC article about the show and the drama caused by George's death in the first episode.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/16907718

All very well but couldn't they have been a little more circumspect? Sure they have to report the Entertainment news and a glossy picture will draw in the readers but opening a piece with a major spoiler is a bit irritating.

Anyway, that aside, it wasn't too bad. After Mitchell's death at the end of the last series I'm getting used to the idea that this is a very fast moving drama and that real world commitments from the show's actors will naturally lead to a high turnover of characters at the present. It's faintly ridiculous but then 'Being Human' has never been an entirely normal series. There's a vaguely Shakespearian tragedy feeling to it when I find myself thinking, 'Aha, George, killer of Mitchell and Wyndham, has been struck down by supernatural forces - but not before striking down Griffin, the slayer of Nina.'

Looking forward to the rest of the series. The new Vampire policeman gives off a very creepy vibe and sets up a few laughs through his psychopathic behaviour but Cutler is obviously being set up as the real villain of the piece. The prophecy about Nina and George's daughter will surely see a few twists and I'm liking the humorous 'Vampire Recorder' (who surely has his own ulterior motives).

Sunday 5 February 2012

Hiroshima Memories

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2012/feb/03/hiroshima-peace-memorial-park-japan

An extremely interesting article on the memory of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. I have nothing but praise for the postwar mayors of Hiroshima - the tradition of protesting every nuclear test is a necessary reminder of the consequences of ignoring such militaristic lunacy.