TV

Mad Men
1x06 Babylon [2nd watch]
It's interesting how much episodes of Mad Men flow into each other, almost as if it was written as one thirteen-hour long piece and then just chopped up at regular intervals. Which does it a disservice, to be honest, because this episode rounds itself off as well as progressing ongoing threads; but I distinctly remember that episode 7 continues elements of this one to the level that any other show would surely have considered it a Part Two.

Fiction

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler
It's the 10th anniversary of The Gruffalo this year, in which time it seems to have become a classic of young children's literature. I've never read it before though (unsurprisingly, considering my age). It certainly lives up to its reputation however.
(Like most good young children's books, it's also poetry, hence the additional tag.)

Family Guy spoofs Christian Bale

And does so brilliantly.

TV

Nature's Great Events
Part 1 The Great Melt
Stunning footage, of course. The last ten minutes are a segment called Nature's Great Events: Diaries, which looks at the making of that particular episode. It really shows off the lengths they go to in capturing these images for entertainment/information. Equally as fascinating, in my opinion.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's
Part 2 (of 2)
Fascinating, well-made documentary.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Heroes: Five Ways to Fix a Series In Crisis by Jeff Jensen
(from EW.com)
Heroes is already back in the US, and returns to British screens in just under a week. But will they have fixed it?

Joss Whedon’s 16 Most Painful Character Deaths
(from fandomania)
"spoilers abound in this article, so if you’re not up to date on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly & Serenity, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, or Astonishing X-Men, you might want to avert your eyes."
These are seriously spoilersome spoilers -- if you're part way through or ever intend to follow any of these series, avoid avoid avoid.

Magazines

Empire #237
The numerous 'exclusives' branded over the cover are all a bit lacklustre, to be honest. The Hobbit films are far too early in development to add anything meaningful; the Watchmen photos are taken from a book (so not exclusive) and the brief interviews don't add much to what's already been said; at least the interview with Terry Gilliam about Dr Parnassus, Heath Ledger's last film, is interesting. I like Empire and don't mean to tear it down too much, but really, those claims are stretching things.

SFX #180
Both this and the Empire above contain interviews about Lesbian Vampire Killers -- unsurprisingly, as it's out in a month -- and retrospective features on Georges Méliès -- which is more surprising, as his stuff is Rather Old. And, to round things off, it trumps the Watchmen feature by interviewing original artist Dave Gibbons. Sure, Gibbons hasn't been quiet about the project, but he's not as oft interviewed as others involved in its production.

Doctor Who goes anime

I'm never quite sure where to classify web videos (you'd think I'd've thought of that), so this one earns a post all to itself. It's a fan-made video of a Doctor Who anime... which you'd think would be dreadful, but is in fact amazing. No, really, it's got better animation than I've seen in some professional productions -- and that's not fan-to-fan hyperbole, that's genuine.

Anyway, you can watch it for yourselves and see what I mean. The early stuff is all making-of (i.e. sketchy pencils, etc), but wait til it gets to the finished sequences and stick with it to the end. I'd be more than happy to see a whole series like this -- the Cybermen in particular are stunning.

Go to YouTube itself to watch in high quality, which looks even more amazing.

New Zealand Internet blackout

Join New Zealand Internet blackout
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TV

Mad Men
1x04 New Amsterdam [2nd watch]
1x05 5G [2nd watch]

QI
6x08 Fashion (extended edition)
So it turns out the extended QI's are available on iPlayer (unlike how it previously seemed), they're just a nightmare to find and thoroughly hidden. Try the link below -- in the programme info it says it's 29 minutes, but if you play it it's the full 45.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Articles

Brand New Fast And Furious Poster by Emily Phillips
(from Empire Online)
There's no reason to be excited about the film, but all credit to whoever came up with that tagline: it's the fourth film in the series, the first sequel to star the primary cast from the original, and the tagline is... "New Model. Original Parts." That's very neat, it must be said.
It's still a bloody stupid title though -- how easy is it to confuse Fast and Furious with The Fast and the Furious, especially when you've got the original cast back -- it just looks like a re-release.
Also, enjoy this article for the sniping at the cast for sinking to this level.

Making Watchmen: What Took So Long? by Greg Dean Schmitz
(from Rotten Tomatoes)
A good summary of the windy path Watchmen has taken to get to the big screen. Hopefully, some day, more details will emerge on the versions people like Terry Gillian, Darren Aronofsky and Paul Greengrass were planning -- I'm sure they'd've been very different and very interesting.

Quentin Tarantino on the Inglourious Basterds Trailer
(from Empire Online)
It's another one of Empire's features where someone (in this case, QT himself) talks you through a trailer almost frame-by-frame. And good they are too. Watch the trailer itself here.

Salma Hayek marries in Paris on Valentine's Day by Rachid Aouli
(from Mail.com)
Well, France is known for its cheese...

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TV

Mad Men
1x03 Marriage of Figaro [2nd watch]
Possibly my favourite thing about Mad Men is how comically well they evoke the period. When a parent slaps someone else's boy for being naughty, the dad walks over saying "what's going on here?"... and rather then erupting into an argument about punishing the child as it would today, the dad agrees wholeheartedly and gets his kid to apologise. Every episode of Mad Men is packed with these moments, and it's just one of the reasons the show is such a joy.

Poetry

The Puffin Book of Nonsense Verse, selected by Quentin Blake
"Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy"
"Department of Facts and Queries"
"I Wish I Were a Jelly Fish"
"Sticky Ends"
"Distracting Creatures"
"A Gamut of Achievements" [the end]

As promised, here are a selection of my favourites from the 127 poems included in this anthology:

Typo by Russell Hoban -- probably my favourite

Eletelephony by Laura Richards

The Purist by Ogden Nash

S F by Ernest Leverett

How I Brought the Good News From Aix to Ghent or, Vice Versa by W.C. Sellar & R.J. Yeatman

One Fine Day in the Middle of the Night (anonymous)

I Went to the Pictures Tomorrow (playground rhyme)

Brother and Sister by Lewis Carroll

Fame Was a Claim of Uncle Ed's by Ogden Nash -- helluva name

O'er Seas That Have No Beaches by Mervyn Peake

A Chronicle (anonymous)

Politeness by Harry Graham

Scientific Proof by J.W. Foley

Waste by Harry Graham.

While we're here -- not only, but also:

I Saw a Peacock (anonymous) -- but only once I realised how it was constructed

Belagcholly Days (anonymous) -- very clever

Bleezer's Ice Cream by Jack Prelutsky

Minnow Minnie by Shel Silverstein

Some Aunts and Uncles by Mervyn Peake

The Ahkond of Swat by Edward Lear

The Willow-tree by William Makepeace Thackeray

Capacity by John Updike

Planting a Mailbox by John Updike

The Cod by Lord Alfred Douglas

Kitty by Colin West

Simple Simon (anonymous)

and Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll -- of course.

Articles

When old films never grow old by ghostof82
(from Musings of the Ghost of 82)
"are we objective enough when eulogising the old greats while disparaging the young pretenders? Is a twelve-year old today that loves the Star Wars prequels, who thinks the Original Trilogy is slow and boring, any wiser than me?"
Pretty good article on this topic.

TV

Cracker
1x04 To Say I Love You Part 2
Ooh it's gritty.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]

Dancing On Ice
The Story of Bolero
25 years old today, and it's still the only ice dance to ever achieve a perfect score (6.0 from 12 judges!) Even to a layman like me it's an incredibly impressive routine, the effect of which is only heightened by this documentary outlining just how innovative and rule-bending it was.

Moses Jones
Part 2 (of 3)
Ooh it's gritty.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Films

Inglourious Basterds Teaser Trailer
"Once upon a time in Nazi-occupied France."
"Sound good?" "Yes sir!"

DVD Extras

Watchmen Video Journals
#11: Rorschach's Mask

I said part 11 was coming soon! Download it from iTunes either ready for iPod or in a higher res.

TV

Not Going Out
3x03 Amy
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Poem of the Week: Triskaidekaphobia

I'm not superstitious, but...
by Col Wilson, aka 'Blue the Shearer'

Assertion of the Week: "There are no good poems about Friday the 13th." Prove me wrong and I'll publish it next week (in some kind of metatextual dating mix-up).

That doesn't mean I've not got one to publish though, oh no. The title may seem only partially related, but most of the poem is still about Friday the 13th. It starts off fairly well, but loses it in a desperate hunt for rhymes.

If you're triskaidekaphobic, then this is your big day.
A day designed for triskaidekaphobics, (so they say)
Is BLACK FRIDAY. The thirteenth. So watch out what you do,
Or triskaidekaphobia could be the death of you.

Be very, very careful of what you undertake,
The consequences could be dire. The decision that you make
Should have no element of risk. For surely you're aware,
That this is Friday, the thirteenth. Take very special care.

Not that I'm susceptible to silly superstition,
But some folk are. So my advice: Consider your position.
It may be just some oldwives' tale, but you just watch your back.
Don't cross your knives upon your plate. Don't step upon a crack.

Don't go too close to mirrors. Those shiny sheets of glass
May crack, and cause misfortune. So shun them when you pass.
Of course, this means no mirror when you go to shave your chin,
So keep a basin near at hand to do your bleeding in.

Don't walk beneath a ladder, you may get splashed with paint.
For on Black Friday, the thirteenth, fortunate you ain't.
And be alert, and look around for black cats on this day.
For bad results are forecast, if one should cross your way.

If salt is spilled, then take a pinch, and toss it down your back,
Some say it will protect you from Black Friday type attack.
All your friends will laugh and jeer, but you'll say:"That's alright,
I only have to keep it up 'til twelve o'clock, to-night."

And just consider what you say. The person that you're rude to,
May be a special kind of witch. The kind that I allude to
Can turn you into cabbages, or make you very poor.
Remember. This is Friday, the thirteenth. I said before,

That triskaidekaphobia, (the terror of thirteen)
Is very rife, this day of days. A pretty dreadful scene.
So watch yourself in traffic, in the kitchen, everywhere.
For triskaidekaphobics, there is danger in the air.

Ah! Triskaidekaphobia. I just learned the word today.
And from here on in, I'll try to find excuses, just to say
Triskaidekaphobia. It just rolls off the tongue.
I'll say it daily, and enjoy the pleasure that it brung.

I'll buy a lottery ticket, and I'll call it: Triskaidek.
And when it wins, I'll take it all in cash, and not by cheque.
And really, I don't believe in luck, when all is done and said,
But just the same. Black Friday. I think I'll stay in bed.

And this was published. Perhaps self published, mind... There's some info on the poem and poet here, and some more here, and if you're interested in Triskaidekaphobia itself there's always the good ol' Wikipedia article.

TV

Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
16x03 (6/2/09 edition)
Tom Jones has gone grey! Tom Jones! Grey! I mean, he's been grey for ages, but he's never shown it 'til now (he dyed it, see). It's... odd. But good for him, I suppose.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Mad Men
1x02 Ladies' Room [2nd watch]