A little while ago I bought myself the Collected Shaun Micallef — a box set of numerous shows of his, including The Micallef P(r)ogram(me). The kids and I have been watching our way through it. I remembered that I had gone to a recording of the show, but had no idea which episode it was. ... [More]
Over the past 24 hours, seeing the stories of the asteroid close-call and the meteor falling in Russia, it’s been a bit like those scenes in Doctor Who where they have a news bulletin about the latest alien invasion.
Spotted in Big W: Spotted in JB Hifi: The key difference seems to be that the JB Hifi people know how to set up their TVs. The Big W people don’t know, or don’t care, that on almost all of the TVs they have on display, the colour is completely distorted. If you can’t see ... [More]
I’d forgotten this. A version of The Police’s stalker song Every Breath You Take — with new lyrics written by the Spitting Image team and sung by Sting. (Don’t be put off by Youtube’s preview frame — it’s not just a credits roll.) There is some good stuff loosely in this genre these days, but ... [More]
Among the presents I got for my birthday was a JB Hifi gift card. This always presents a challenge: what bargains can I pick up? Browsing around the store one day, I found the two Harry Potter movies we don’t already have — the Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2 — on Blu-ray, for $14.98, ... [More]
With thanks to my super-cake-baker sister Susannah. If (gasp) you don’t get it, well, you’d better watch this.
Who remembers The Professionals? I for one was hooked on this as a teenager, despite it being, as Martin Shaw described it, a one-dimensional show. It was a major inspiration for the amateur action video series “STRIKE” which I helped on in high school. It’s amusing to look back on the original Professionals title sequence ... [More]
Dragon: Are You Old Enough (1978) — around Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, including the now-gone behaviour of riding the running board on a tram, and a Silvertop taxi back when they really did have a silver top. John Paul Young: Yesterday’s Hero (1975) — around Swanston Street Paul Kelly: Leaps and Bounds — mostly the Nylex ... [More]
This creation by my super-talented sister, for Isaac’s birthday.
Where digital TV really fails is handling lots and lots of moving objects on screen at once. Look at these two grabs from last night’s ABC news. In the first, host Ian Henderson is shown. With little moving, the picture is very smooth — even with the slightly dodgy ABC blue screen. (See it bigger) ... [More]
Tony Hancock’s legendary line in The Blood Donor was “A pint? That’s very nearly an armful!” (I really should find the DVD somewhere and watch it again.) I referenced it the other day after going to the blood bank, and Ian noted that Tony Hancock was from Ian’s home town of Birmingham, and kindly snapped ... [More]
Deep within the bowels of the ABC studios at Southbank… …there is a Triple J studio called “TARDIS”. Well, recording booths. I discovered that they’re not bigger on the inside. I was there the other day at lunchtime. My blabbering has shown up as part of a Triple J “Hack” story on the costs of ... [More]