June 2008 Archives
June 26, 2008 10:55 PM
I don't get student discounts on bus tickets anymore
This cryptic Latin conundrum means that there is now a chance that I will actually be able to get employed. What's this? My unwarranted pessimism is not amusing? OK, OK, it is what the Glasgow University people call an MA degree in Film & Television Studies, and Arts & Media Informatics (think computing without the maths and science and from a conservation and arty perspective and you're getting there).
The guidelines for graduation actually contained blatant dress code sexism. They basically stated that male graduands had to wear a white shirt and a black tie and a suit. The guidelines for girls explicitly stated that wearing a tie was optional and that they had a lot more lee-way. Now, you won't often hear me say that I'm above something, but, I'm above that, and you can see for yourself by looking at the picture if you need proof that I was the only person at the entire ceremony with a penis and whatever other accessories are needed to take a stand against such crap.
Sorry for the overexposed picture by the way, never let your parents try and use a camera. Oh, speaking of being not unemployed, the good folks at Mondo Vision, who I author DVDs for (amongst other things), are allowing me to tell you that I am currently working on bringing brand new, ultra-crispy DVDs Andrzej Zulawski's L'IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER ("The Important Thing Is To Love") and L'AMOUR BRAQUE ("Mad Love"). And, LA FEMME PUBLIQUE is currently being manufactured and you'll be able to order it soon.
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6 commentsJune 20, 2008 7:55 PM
Why regional TV programming is great
And keep in mind when I say "great", I mean "a pain in the ass" (or should that be arse). Tonight, I was, for once, looking forward to a show on BBC TV:
Only problem is, I live in Glasgow, so up here we get BBC Scotland instead. Seemingly always complaining about their lack of representation on TV, people up here apparently demand more "local" productions. Normally, this usually amounts to a few badly telecined 1970s documentaries in Gaelic about waterfalls and mountains, run in obscure 3am timeslots. Tonight however, viewers in Scotland, instead of getting to see Billy Boy, were instead treated to...
LANDWARD: Nick Nairn and the team are live at the Royal Highland Show with news, views, sights and sounds from the first two days, plus a preview of the weekend's highlights.
Wooooo. Well, hopefully I can watch the show on BBC's web site or on Video on Demand, unless the bandwidth is reserved for the Village Kiltmaking and Mule judging Competition instead.
Edit: turns out it's on tomorrow at 6pm here instead. Yay!
June 11, 2008 6:11 PM
Toshiba 40ZF355D LCD HDTV reviewed
June 8, 2008 3:37 AM
US TV advertisers stoop to new low
Constant channel logos, permanent programme guide like info like the name of a show constantly burned into the video, text adverts for what's coming up next, and in the UK, icons telling you to "PRESS RED!"... you'd think that TV networks (not just kids' channels, either) are already trying their darndest to make their overcompressed mushy video as unappealing as possible, right?
Well, cast your eyes over this YouTube clip (thanks Andrew) of US network TBS showing a rerun of "Family Guy":
That's right, the show is frozen, a man steps on screen and delivers an advertisement, unpauses the show, and walks off-screen again, before the REAL commercial break starts. Come on, this is nuts! Where is it going to end?
Assuming US viewers don't get utterly sick of it, how long will it take before this trendy media practice appears over here in the UK? Over here, the situation is a little different, and certainly less commercialised. Nevertheless, even BBC, which is a "public service" broadcaster, burns logos and reminders of what show is appearing next over their video, the official reason apparently being to remind people who are too stupid to remember what channel they've selected what channel they've selected (sounds more like a thinly-veiled branding exercise to me).
