May 2009 Archives

Television's a freak show isn't it? It's like watching a parade of the mentally and physically afflicted doing unicycle tricks for the 'entertainment' of the illiterate and chronically couch-bound. Actually that sounds pretty good.

Instead of providing a window to the world, television is more of a porthole slammed on the side of the asylum. In the main they've even given up the pretence of it being some kind of educational tool, now it's just sit and gawp fodder for those of us who can't be bothered to do anything else and can't afford multi-channel satellite feeds.

I've been reaching this conclusion over a prolonged period whilst vegetating in front of the screen - it's either one screen or another. Mostly though it appears to be the fault of embarrassing bodies on Channel 4.

It's the follow-up to a presumably successful series called embarrassing illnesses where people who were suffering some kind of condition so shameful that they couldn't go to their GP could get advice. Yes, they were too embarrassed to go to their private doctor's surgery but they were willing to parade themselves in front of millions on TV. It's a paradox I'm still struggling with, C4 aren't struggling though - which is how they've managed to get at least twelve hours worth of content out of it.

Maybe I'm just too laid back? I'm becoming slightly worried that I've become so cynical that many of the recent 'scandals' barely scrape the surface of my consciousness. This M.P.'s expenses furore for example, has it not descended into the level of farce?
It's hard to sort through the mess of which party's members claimed the most money, or for the most ridiculous items and now it's degenerated - as these things always do - into point-scoring, who can be the most apologetic or the first to be seen to be the most penitent. Could I care less? I doubt it.

My mother, on the other hand, is apoplectic or at least she would be if she knew what apoplectic meant. When I last saw her at the weekend she was incandescent with rage and I'm still struggling to know why. She's been alive long enough to be aware that M.P.s are not charity workers, she knows that they're generally feckless, untrustworthy types. So, why be upset at the latest evidence of their pocket-lining, rule-bending, self-serving natures?

It could be argued that we prefer our representatives to behave this way, who do we want fighting for our rights - people who take what they're given or those who are intelligent enough to know how to manipulate the system?

Watching an SF epic, like the new Star Trek movie, in IMAX is a humbling experience. It also spoils you - as watching one on the small screen will never seem the same, because it isn't. In IMAX you feel like you're actually in space.

Having never even seen a Star Trek movie at the cinema previously, seeing this one is a real revelation. You have to say that JJ Abrams got it spot on, and whoever did the casting deserves a medal. Ignoring the fact that Zachary Quinto was clearly born to play Spock, I'm constantly bewildered at how they continually find children who look like the actors - without casting their own children of course.

Anyway, it's wholly recommended - particularly in IMAX. For once all the good stuff isn't just in the trailor.

This says it all - in a truly genius style:

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'