Cornwall

I'm off to Cornwall for the weekend, as of this afternoon. The reason I mention this perhaps unnoteworthy fact (though I know some who would dispute that) is that I'm not sure what the status of my Internet connection will be down there.

But don't worry, the moment has been prepared for! I may not be able to keep you up-to-date with my latest cultural experiences, but there are a couple of items that will appear over the weekend regardless (I recommend checking just after 1pm for those). "Updated every day", remember. Connection or not, I'll be back Sunday night at the latest, so I can fill in the missing time then if necessary.

Cheerio!

Poem of the Day: Haiku Achoo

by Richard Nelson

It's another Funny Friday entry for Poem of the Day this week, with this seasonally-appropriate haiku penned by none other than your faithful cultural guide (i.e. me). This was composed for no reason other than I wanted to, and is a completely original premiere just for this blog. Aren't you lucky?

In cold winter months,
breeze biting inside one's nose
means swift expulsion.

I'm sure that excellent (if I say so myself) title must've been thought of and used before, but what's truly original these days, hm?

TV

Big Cat Week
2x04 (6/1/05 edition)

Little Dorrit
Part 8 (of 14)
The story finally gets going! Hurrah! Now there are actually characters to genuinely care about and others to genuinely dislike -- I already can't wait for the Dorrit family to get their comeuppance (they bloody better...)

Never Mind the Buzzcocks
22x08 (20/11/08 edition)

Films

The Cable Guy (1996)
[#79 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]

Articles

Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy by Chuck Klosterman
(from A.V. Club)
Don't worry: despite the title, I don't think you're actually expected to know who Chuck Klosterman is; certainly, the article begins by explaining who he is. Sort of. And then the article is primarily worthy of note for pushing your B.S. monitor to the max. "Chinese Democracy is (pretty much) the last Old Media album we'll ever contemplate in this context—it's the last album that will be marketed as a collection of autonomous-but-connected songs, the last album that will be absorbed as a static manifestation of who the band supposedly is, and the last album that will matter more as a physical object than as an Internet sound file. This is the end of that." What a load of self-important claptrap.

Poem of the Day: The Avenging Angel

by William Wilfred Campbell

Another World War I poem, but I came across this one quite by chance. It's dedicated "To Flight- Lieutenant Robinson and all the heroic aviators of the Royal Flying Corps", which might lead you to assume Campbell was a British airman, just as his death in 1918 might lead you to assume he was killed in the War. Neither is the case, however: Campbell was a Canadian poet, an ex-priest (he had a crisis of faith and resigned in 1891), and died of pneumonia on New Years Day 1918.

Don't let the length put you off, it's a surprisingly quick and rewarding read. More at the other end...

When the last faint red of the day is dead,
     And the dim, far heaven is lit
With the silvern cars
Of the orient stars,
     And the winged winds whimper and flit;

Then I rise through the dome of my aerodrome,
     Like a giant eagle in flight;
And I take my place
In the vengeful race
     With the sinister fleets of night.

As I rise and rise in the cloudy skies,
     No sound in the silence is heard,
Save the lonesome whirr
Of my engine's purr,
     Like the wings of a monster bird.

And naught is seen save the vault, serene,
     Of the vasty realms of night,
That vanish, aloof,
To eternity's roof,
     As I mount in my ominous flight.

And I float and pause in the fleecy gauze,
     Like a bird in a nest of down;
While 'neath me in deeps
Of blackness, sleeps
     The far, vast London town.

But I am not here, like a silvern sphere,
     To glory the deeps of space,
But a sentinel, I,
In this tower of the sky,
     Scanning the dim deep's face.

For, sudden, afar, like a luminous star,
     Or a golden horn of the moon,
Or a yellow leaf
Of the forest's grief,
     When the autumn winds are atune;

There is borne on my sight, down the spaces of night,
     By the engines of evilment sped,
That wonderful, rare,
Vast ship of the air,
     Beautiful, ominous, dread.

One instant she floats, most magic of boats,
     Illusive, implacable, there;
Throned angel of ill,
On her crystal-built hill,
     O'er a people's defenceless despair.

Then sudden, I rise, like a bolt through the skies,
     To the very dim roofs of the world;
Till down in the grey,
I see my grim prey,
     Like a pallid gold leaf, uncurled.

And I hover and swing, until swiftly I spring,
     And drop like a falling star;
And again and again,
My death-dealing rain,
     Hurl to the deeps afar.

Then I hover and listen, till I see the far glisten
     Of a flame-flash blanching the night;
And I know that my hate,
That has lain in wait,
     Has won in the grim air-fight.

Then I curve and slant, while my engines pant,
     And the wings of my great bird tame;
While the sinister Hun,
In his ill, undone,
     Goes out in a blinding flame.

(Other sources have pointed this out, so, in case you're unaware, "the Hun" was a slang name for the Germans in World War I.)

The Avenging Angel was written and first published in 1917. I've chosen it for the clear, easy-to-follow language, considerably aided by an equally clear and consistent use of rhyme. The rhythm makes it very readable also. For all these reasons, as well as the interesting subject matter (for one, it seems rather pro-war (or, at least, pro-RAF), making it a distinct counterpoint to the Owen I posted), it makes a worthy addition to the list.

TV

The Devil's Whore
Part 1 (of 4)
Andrea Riseborough leads a relatively starry/recognisable cast (including the likes of John Simm, Dominic West, Peter Capaldi, Maxine Peake, Michael Fassbender, Tom Goodman-Hill, and, next week, Tim McInnery) in this drama about the English Civil War. It may sound a tad staid as a setting, but the title is more of a clue: there's buckles being swashed -- and, indeed, buckles being undone -- left, right and centre. Hurrah! And some weird fantasy elements too. It doesn't feel like History, which is a good thing, and is all rather exciting executed, even if some of the direction is a little odd. Worth watching if you missed it; I'm very much looking forward to the rest.

Little Dorrit
Part 7 (of 14)

Films

The Green Mile (1999)
[#78 in 100 Films in a Year 2008]
It's like the anti-Shawshank. Not in terms of quality though.

Fiction

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert & Richard Isanove
Parts Three - Five
I know it doesn't affect the quality of the story, but it's annoying how thin the pages are here. Clearly wanting to use glossy paper stock but wanting to keep costs down, it's all glossy but thin, making it too easy to turn two pages at once, especially as the glossiness helps them stick to each other.
As for the text itself, I'm still not certain. It occasionally falls into the usual traps of big team-ups/crossovers, especially regarding "assumed knowledge" -- for a book that looks very accessible to newcomers, due to its "fresh start"/no continuity approach, you'd think it would be free of this, but too often you feel you should know who someone is or will be.
On the bright side, a magic-based character like Dr Strange feels much more at home in a weird Elizabethan world than he would in the modern 'almost real' superhero world that the numerous film adaptations have given us. Plus, things are beginning to come together (I'd hope so too, as I'm over halfway now), and there's a very well-built cliffhanger on Part Three.

Articles

Doctor Who (before the Tardis) by Tom Geoghegan
(from BBC News Magazine)
A really very weak article about the newly-released documents I mentioned earlier today -- it's full of slightly-off facts and ill-informed opinion. The comments are also largely hilarious, especially the woman who thinks the article is suggesting the TARDIS should/will be removed from the show. Bless. Other people demonstrate why they're not in charge, wittering on about new series episodes being "so fan fiction" or "blatant nostalgia" and therefore not appealing to kids. Yeah, cos they show still being the most-watched by kids on the whole of TV clearly means it's too nostalgic or too simplistic for them, doesn't it.

Fox Lines Up X-Men: First Class by Chris Hewitt
(from Empire Online)
"If a movie studio can develop mutant powers, then we’ve discovered Twentieth Century Fox’s: the ability to create X-Men spin-offs." This one is, essentially, "teen X-Men". Yay, angst!

Introducing... Premakes! by Chris Hewitt
(from the Empire Blog)
Well, now, here's something that will never catch on.

Sergeant to pull out of Strictly
(from BBC News)
Mark my words, the BBC'll have 3,000 complaints before the week's out -- that's what the British public do these days.

World War Z, And Why You Should Care by Helen O'Hara
(from the Empire Blog)
"for my money it's the best horror novel in decades, and one that absolutely deserves the wider audience that cinema would bring."

Poem of the Day: Kubla Khan

or, A Vision in a Dream: A Fragment
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

So, I forgot Poem of the Day yesterday. Easily done, but I'll try to avoid doing so again.

Today's poem is another fairly famous one, based on an opium dream the author had. I'd wager this is several hundred times better than any drug-induced poetry you might get today.

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
     Down to a sunless sea.
So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

     But oh! that deep romantic chasm which slanted
     Down the green hill athwart a cedarn cover!
     A savage place! as holy and enchanted
     As e'er beneath a waning moon was haunted
     By woman wailing for her demon-lover!
     And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,
     As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,
     A mighty fountain momently was forced:
     Amid whose swift half-intermitted burst
     Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
     Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail:
     And 'mid these dancing rocks at once and ever
     It flung up momently the sacred river.
     Five miles meandering with a mazy motion
     Through wood and dale the sacred river ran,
     Then reached the caverns measureless to man,
     And sank in tumult to a lifeless ocean:
     And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far
     Ancestral voices prophesying war!

     The shadow of the dome of pleasure
     Floated midway on the waves;
     Where was heard the mingled measure
     From the fountain and the caves.
It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice!
     A damsel with a dulcimer
     In a vision once I saw:
     It was an Abyssinian maid,
     And on her dulcimer she played,
     Singing of Mount Abora.
     Could I revive within me
     Her symphony and song,
     To such a deep delight 'twould win me,
That with music loud and long,
I would build that dome in air,
That sunny dome! those caves of ice!
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread,
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.

"There is widespread speculation on the poem's meaning, some suggesting the author is merely portraying his vision while others insist on a theme or purpose. Others believe it is a poem stressing the beauty of creation, and some read sexual allusions throughout." (Source: as ever, Wikipedia. It's much better than some people say.)

The Genesis of Doctor Who: The Creation of a Television Hero

Heard of the BBC Archive? Unless you're very into TV history (or sci-fi -- this kinda geeky thing always gets reported by sci-fi mags) then probably not.

Essentially, the BBC are now releasing online selected documents from their history, for the first time allowing public viewers the chance to "explore who we are and see how attitudes have changed over the years through selections from an archive which began over 70 years ago... go behind the scenes to find out how the BBC archives are maintained, uncover forgotten stories from the Written Archives and see how broadcasting has changed through the decades." These are the sort of documents previously only available to Proper Researcher People and the like.

To tie in with the programme's 45th anniversary, the Archive have released a selection of documents from the birth of Doctor Who in 1962/3 -- that's the programme, not the character.

The collection, which can be read here, contains six documents and a photo gallery. The latter is a selection of 17 colour and black & white photos of the show's first cast and crew, mostly taken in the early '60s when the show was beginning, but with some from the '50s (on other productions) and '80s (when some of those cast members returned to the programme). It's not an especially comprehensive gallery, and most of the images will be very familiar to long-term or attentive Who fans, but for those unaccustomed to how the relevant people looked it's probably a nice primer.

The former includes the following documents:

Titled simply Science Fiction, the first document is a four-page 1962 report looking into whether the BBC should make science fiction drama for TV.

Equally simply titled, Report: Science Fiction is a three-page follow-up document, also from 1962, on the kind of stories BBC science fiction dramas might handle.

The third document contains two pages of general concept notes for a science fiction drama, though what's suggested doesn't necessarily resemble the final product...

The first series-specific document is titled "Dr. Who": General Notes on Background and Approach, a four-page outline of both production style ("a series of stories linked to form a continuing serial") and content (list of characters, etc).

Skipping ahead quite a lot, the penultimate piece is a Radio Times article previewing the very first episode, An Unearthly Child, as well as that episode's listing in the schedule.

Finally, a two-page Audience Research Report reveals both reaction and ratings. It's intriguing to learn that, in those days of just two channels (versus the hundreds we have today), Who's initial viewing figures were about half what they are today.

As well as these scanned images, each document is available in a plain-text version (very handy if you needed to quote it for any reason), though these unfortunately have to be viewed page by page and miss out some accompanying notes.

But that's an incredibly minor criticism of a fascinating and valuable project. It won't be of interest to everyone, or even every Who fan, but it's an incredible opportunity for those who are interested. One of the things that most intrigues me is that the BBC were so specifically looking for a sci-fi show, as I'd always assumed Who was born out of the desire to create something educational.

TV

Bill Bailey: Part Troll
As screened by Channel 4 a week or two ago. I didn't think I'd seen this before, but then much of it seemed very familiar -- though still hilariously funny. Perhaps C4 aired it previously, no doubt cut down (as they almost always seem to do with their stand-up) to fit an hour-with-ads slot, while this version filled an hour-and-a-half slot and so may have been uncut (there will still some jumps however). Anyway, it's very funny, I recommend it.

The Graham Norton Show
4x07 (13/11/08 edition, uncut repeat)
Robin Williams was the only guest this week... but that's OK, cos he's hilarious (even if he did most of the same stuff at Prince Charles' 60th birthday gig).

Magazines

Doctor Who Magazine #402
Including some nice articles on Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart -- even down to an edition of That Annoying Column that is actually (shock! horror!) likable. Though it does include an editor's footnote saying the writer should be fired -- ironic that my usual feeling should appear on the only one I've actually liked. Elsewhere this issue, there's other interesting stuff. Oh yes. (Only other bit I really remember: a good review of the Sarah Jane Adventures series on DVD.)

Articles

The Enterprise Through The Ages
(from Empire Online)
And there I was thinking all of Star Trek's spaceships looked basically the same...

JJ Abrams On The New Star Trek Trailer
(from Empire Online)
In 32 hi-res stills, director J.J. Abrams talks Empire through the just-released Star Trek trailer. "Part of [Kirk's] story in this movie," says Abrams, "is becoming the man that we all expect to see" -- so it's Star Trek Begins by way of Batman Begins and Casino Royale then. J.J. Abrams: never knowingly involved in something original.
[Watch the trailer here.]

New Coraline Poster by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire Online)
"It's the new film from author Neil "godlike genius" Gaiman and stop-motion director Henry "godlike genius" Selick."

Quantum of Solace Debut US Weekend Total Updated: $67.5 Million by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Turns out, the new Bond didn't do quite as well as everyone thought. Still recording-breaking by a considerable margin though.

Trailer Breakdown: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince
(from Empire Online)
Entirely worth reading for one throwaway comment: "Dumbledore has, in other words, got mad skills."
[Watch the trailer here.]

Zack Snyder Talks Watchmen by Helen O'Hara
(from Empire Online)
A different report about the same screening I mentioned yesterday -- so here be spoilers -- but with some more detail from Zack Snyder's interview, including this amusing/interesting/complex (and spoiler-free) bit of info: "Snyder also talked a little about Under The Hood, a DVD extra chronicling 1940s costumed adventurers The Minutemen. "Eric Matthews did that; it's a mock documentary. The complicated thing is that it's done as a 1985 [when the film is set] TV retrospective looking back at the publication of a book that's supposed to have come out in 1972. That's very cool.""

TV

Clone
1x01 Alive
Oh dear, what's with all that poorly-dubbed laughter? Especially as it isn't even put on all the gags. Most of which were distinctly over-written, it must be said; and most of those that weren't were underwritten. It's almost good, at times, though never as good as it could be. Fingers crossed for improvement.

Heroes
3x07 Eris Quod Sum

Lead Balloon
3x01 Gas

Spooks
7x05 On the Brink
This week's plot is partially borrowed from the news, partially borrowed from Casino Royale. Also, I watched it when it was on! Hurrah! Though, it was on BBC Three last week, so...

Non-Fiction

Story by Robert McKee
Chapters 17 - 19
Fade Out [the end]
A damn useful book. Highly recommended for anyone attempting or interested in screenwriting.

Articles

Final Secret Crisis Invasion - But at What Cost? by Newsarama Staff
(from Newsarama.com)
Comics can be seriously ludicrous. This year, the two major publishers have each had major 'events', spanning new titles, miniseries, and issues in existing books: Secret Invasion for Marvel and Final Crisis (what's the betting that'll turn out to be a misnomer?) for DC. Obviously buying all the various issues would be very costly, but as they're doled out month by month over a year (or more) it can be easy to miss just how much one is spending. And the totals it would cost a dedicated comic fan to buy all of the relevant stuff? $378.78 for Secret Invasion, $135.08 for Final Crisis (or up to $317.56 if you include relevant prequel series published in 2007). It's because of things like this that I don't buy comics.

Getting Into The Graveyard Book With Neil Gaiman by Zack Smith
(from Newsarama.com)
Neil Gaiman discuss this & that, including why we won't learn much about his forthcoming two-issue Batman story -- titled Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? in tribute to the famous Alan Moore Superman story -- until it hits shelves.

Quantum of Solace Sets Bond Box Office Record With $70.4 Million Debut by Devin Zydel
and
James Bond Finds Solace At International Box Office For Third Straight Weekend by Devin Zydel
(from CommanderBond.net)
Quelle surprise. And it's expected to continue to do very well, even in the UK, where despite a lot of negative reaction it's only dropped 41% of business into its third week (while that might sound a lot, it really isn't).
The focus on the US by Bond fansites amuses or annoys me alternately, considering Bond is a British character in fairly British films who's always done a lot better in the rest of the world than he has in the US -- when most films were getting 50% of their total from the US and 50% the rest of the world, Bond was doing more like 40/60 (respectively), if not higher. Ah well, you can never escape the Americans' overdeveloped sense of self importance.

SFX 177 Preview: Red Dwarf News by Dave Golder
(from SFX)
Teeny tiny snippets of new info on the forthcoming Red Dwarf specials. The new issue of SFX (which this is obviously taken from) is out on Wednesday, so there may be more then. (It also has some form of huge Watchmen feature. Yay!)

Watchmen – First Look by Jayne Nelson
(from SFX)
Absolutely bursting with spoilers -- including about changes they've made, so even people who've read the book may wish to skip this one.

Websites

A highly amusing exchange on IMDb's Yes Man boards. Here's a direct link to the relevant three posts, but I'll quote them here for the sake of ease (slightly edited for clarity and linkage):

bobthegrinch:

This is actually based on the book Yes Man by Danny Wallace... It really is an excellent book, I highly recommend it, but this film looks like typical Hollywood comedy garbage.

amc001:

The Hollywood movie machine produced Trading Places, Groundhog Day, The Big Lebowski. All good comedies. But I agree that the typical Hollywood comedy is garbage.

bobthegrinch:

That's why I used the word "typical".

"lol".

100 Films update

It is, once again, over a month since I last posted an update from my other blog, 100 Films in a Year. There have been numerous reviews posted there since then -- including one of Quantum of Solace, just 17 days after I actually saw it -- so here's a summary of them:

from 2008...

After the Sunset (2004)

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Casino Royale (2006)

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

Hitman: Unrated (2007)

The Invasion (2007)

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Shoot 'Em Up (2007)

St. Trinian's (2007)

Stay (2005)

Zodiac (2007)

Also...

Inside-Out (a short)

Quantum of Solace also means that I finally have a "Q" in my collection (unlike the film! Haha!) Only "X" and "Y" to fill now -- damn having seen all the X-Men films! (Well, I suppose there's the unwieldily-titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine to look forward to next year.)

from 2007...

300 (2006)

Before Sunrise (1995)

Before Sunset (2005)

The Black Dahlia (2006)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005)

Great Expectations (1946)

Miracles (1989)

Starter For Ten (2006)

Transporter 2 (2005)

There's still more to come from both years.