CouchSlobs - A Monument To Human Idleness

Dear faithful readers,

for our American friends - do not worry I have not turned this into an X rated blog overnight without letting you know beforehand.

For our British readers - well who does not know about Mrs Slocombe and her pussy should be ashamed of themselves

Years and years ago there was this show called Are You Being Served? I remember watching it late in the evening (it was part of the summer evening program) and it always gave me a horrible case of the giggles. It was truly British comedy at it’s best - double entendre, plenty of witty one liners, wonderful and eccentric cast and just down right funny.

A good few years after that I went to the States for the first time. And my uncle and his family came to visit me (all down to me not having a Canadian visa). So we went to a hotel for a weekend (to get away from my crazy host family) and there I was with my uncle and aunt (that I have last seen when I was like 4) and my cousin (who I have never seen). So while they were making dinner reservations I switched on the telly just to see what channels they had. And there it was Are You Being Served?
But what was funny that both my cousin and myself giggled at the same time “Oooh Mrs Slocombe and her pussy!” I defy anyone who tells me British comedy does not have universal appeal.

Anyhow this week Mollie Sudgen, the actress who played the infamous Mrs Slocombe, passed away at the age of 86. She was a prolific actress but I’m sure in my mind (and in the mind of many) she will always be remembered as Mrs Slocombe with a wonderful blue rinse and her pussy (in case you are still baffled by what she meant - cat, she meant cat

Farewell Mrs Slocombe and thank you for the giggles.

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Got a question for John Barrowman? You can leave them at Pop Candy

50 Greatest trailer of all time - IFC (via Pop Candy)

5 most unconvincing high school students - TV Addict

Reviews of the latest BBC comedy Psychoville - TV Scoop

6 movies that were glorified commercials - Regretful Morning

Digital Spy has a run down of the next season of Heroes (nah still haven’t started watching it again) - Digital Spy

Ricky Gervais defends his new movie The Invention of Lying - TV Squad (for what it is worth I thought the trailer look funny, you can check it out below)

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Dear faithful readers,

you do know I am a huge Torchwood fan. Well if you didn’t now you know.

So I’m super excited that the new season of Torchwood starts next week. Yay for that!

But the format of the series has changed whether it will be for better or for worse well the ratings will tell us. Although I do not know what was so problematic about 13-episode series that they had to mess with that.
Anyhow this season of Torchwood will be 5 one hour episodes and it will be shown on consecutive nights next week.

It seems Captain Jack Harkness sorry John Barrowman is not too happy about the change of format either as you can read over at Digital Spy

I’m going to get a little political and I’ll probably get into trouble for it. The decision was made to go to BBC One [for the third series] and then we were cut - from 13 episodes down to five. Personally, I felt like we were being punished. Other shows move from BBC Three and Two to One and they don’t get cut. So why are we? It felt like every time we moved we had to prove ourselves.

Well I know I for one will be watching but if there are any Torchwood viewers among our readers how do you feel about the series being cut to just 5 episodes?

Here is the trailer and frankly it looks quite freaky.

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Dear faithful readers - happy Stephen Fry Appreciation Monday (well Tuesday but just pretend)!

Anyhow I have a few assorted bits and pieces that I would like to talk about.

First - Kingdom is doing well in the ratings (I so am keeping my fingers crossed we will get another season because I think this one is quite the best we have seen so far).

Anyhow yes the ratings quoted directly from Digital Spy

Kingdom put in a strong 4.83m (21.2%) at 9pm, helping ITV1 to first place during the hour.

Technically that does mean diddly all in today’s world of broadcasting because other shows have been canned without rhyme or reason but hope does spring eternal.

Second order of business - have you listened to the third installment of The Dongle?!

I did and I actually managed to figure out the clue. All by myself. Being blond and all. I was so smug it was unseemly then I realized it was really quite easy to figure out

But anyhow yes I did figure it out all by myself although I will be honest with you the first time I listened to it I couldn’t make head or tails out of it - who is the first first, the last tycoon and the lone eagle and whathaveyou - I mean that Mr. Fry he does go on a bit doesn’t he?
But I was determined to figure it out so I took out my notebook and Hello Kitty pen, made notes and figured it out all by myself. I am STILL unclear whether or not we are supposed to just figure out the clue or watch the movies too and I still don’t have a clue about the paintings from the second installment but at least I have managed to figure out one piece of the puzzle. Do let me know how are you getting along!

And third order of business - do you remember Mein Handy from QI? Oh how I love that clip I’m still trying to figure out how to turn it into ringtone for iPhone (yes I am technically challenged).
If you don’t know what I’m talking about it here it is.

Since Mr. Fry is currently in Germany and I guess by popular demand this is what was posted on Twitter yesterday

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Searching for something? Just google it. Google it with Bing!

LOL

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Dear faithful readers,

were you as shocked as I was when you heard? Love him or loathe him it goes without saying he did shape the music scene in the 80s and a whole generation of artists. And when he was on top form Michael Jackson was unbelievable.

I never was much of a fan however a lot of his songs did mark my childhood and adolescence.

One of my bestest friend in the world (yes I know it’s not even a word) was a huuuge fan. Ever since she was in 6th grade of primary school. She loved him to bits. She even got tickets for two of his concerts but they were later canceled and she was devastated. She tried to get a ticket for one of the London gigs but those sold out in matter of minutes. Unfortunately she will not get a chance to see him in concert ever again. And my heart breaks for her because I know how much she wanted that.

So this is for my friend Vlatka - one song that she would always badger DJ to play at the end of every night out we had together.

May he finally rest in peace.

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Dear faithful readers,

nah don’t worry I haven’t gone bonkers (not yet anyway). And yes I am reluctant to believe that 2012 will be the doomsday for humanity. Wasn’t that supposed to happen at the turn of the millennium?

But I will willingly admit I am a sucker for a good movie trailer. And these nature disaster movies. For whatever reason. I was captivated by The Perfect Storm first time I have seen it. And The Day After Tomorrow (bows head in shame - I know how uncool of me).

But there is something so visually compelling about this trailer I just can’t tear my eyes away. Sure it’s Roland Emmerich and it screams big money and Hollywood blockbuster and the whole premise is doodah but seriously just look at it.

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Do you know I was actually so naive that before I clicked this particular link at Digital Spy I honestly thought House producers will apologize for crappy fifth season? I know - how blond am I?

But this is (in my opinion) what happens when writers and producers start to cater to a particular group of fans.

David Shore said

I don’t think we cheated them [but] I do think we teased them. And I apologise for being a tease. But I don’t think we cheated fans because that was a legitimate storyline that made sense. And we will follow up on it… It’s not like it didn’t matter. The fact that House had that hallucination is extremely significant. It was not like he woke up in a shower and all of last year was just a dream. It wasn’t what you might have thought it was going to be, but it was big. That was a glimpse into what House desires.

You know if he did wake up and it was all a dream, well not a dream but something that could be explained rationally - actually here is the link to the discussion we had over at Give Me My Remote after the House finale. I love Erik’s recaps and if you scroll half way down a commentator under the username timo has the best possible spin for season 6.

Ah if it wasn’t for Hugh Laurie I think I would have given up on this show 2 seasons ago.

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Dear faithful readers,

you know we are all about the frivolous here. In fact we embrace it since we all need a bit of frivolity and fun in our lives.

But what is happening in Iran is far from frivolous. And this time around it really isn’t about CNN and BBC anymore. It is about Twitter and YouTube and facebook. This is the only way first hand accounts are trickling through to the rest of the world.

Now I really do not mean to get political (that is funny given the choice of my degree but there you go). Politics make me go ewww.

But we are the generation that has seen the Berlin wall come crumbling down, Dessert Storm and 9/11. And if you have ever in your life experienced that kind of fear be it for yourself or a loved one that paralyzes you, that turns your brain into flight or fight mode, that literally stops you in your tracks - well you cannot be immune.

I do have a theory about this - Iran reached it’s tipping point. It always astonished me how much abuse a human being can take. Whether as an individual or as a group. You adapt. Abnormal becomes normal. But it comes a point when you slam your fist and shout “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” That is a tipping point. In my country we had our own tipping point years ago. And it wasn’t pretty. And it wasn’t peaceful. And maybe that is why I can sympathize.

People are being killed. If the only thing you can do is spread the word, then spread the word.

Here is where you can follow all the latest details on Twitter - #iranelection

Daily Dish posts up to the minute news

Huffington Post too

Pictures from the streets of Teheran

Pictures on flickr

I promise we will be back to our regular frivolity tomorrow.

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Dear faithful readers,

we have established already there is absolutely nothing worth watching these days (apart from True Blood). Well I have established that since it does feel like I’m talking to myself here.

Be as it may I did find something to keep me occupied (for a bit at least). It is a BBC crime series State of Play.
Yes I know you must be thinking of State of Play the movie, but the movie was actually based on the series.

Without giving too much away it does start off innocently enough - a journalist from The Herald Cal McCaffrey (played by John Simm of Life on Mars fame) starts investigating what seems to be a drug related murder. Then an MP’s researcher chucks herself under the Tube. But we learn soon enough that the two incidents are actually related and the story is far too more complicated (and intriguing) then it seemed in the beginning.

Series was written by Paul Abbott (for his first attempt at a thriller this was really excellent work), the cast includes a number of prominent British actors - such as David Morrissey, Bill Nighty, Kelly Macdonald and my personal favorite Philip Glenister and they all did a superb job.

Although I am half way through it (there were only 6 one hour episodes) it has just the right amount of cliffhangers, fast paced action and connect-the-dots moments to keep me eager for more.

I haven’t seen State of Play the movie so I cannot really tell how much did they stick to the original but I am once again reminded why I like BBC series so much - they are bloody good!

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