Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Sigh./Fie!

Fuckin' hell, that "Imagine Greater" tagline for SyFy annoys me. Imagine greater what?!

My suggestions:
1) Imagine Greater attention to spelling.
2) Imagine Greater shows can be found on other stations? You'd be right.

I know the purpose of slogans and brands is to get a person's attention, and damned if it hasn't worked. Doesn't mean I like it, though. I still think it's one focus group shy of wearing a hockey helmet for day-to-day activities. But let's not forget the target audience: folks who think Battlestar Galactica is the greatest bit of television ever.

Syentificly proven...


The SciFi Channel is now "SyFy". Whatever marketing asshole thought that up? Bet he thought it was kewl.
If you look at the programme offerings from the station, endless reruns of that Christ-awful Stargate: Atlantis, the near-franchise killer Enterprise, and other such crap, Sigh./Fie! might have been a more appropriate choice.
And don't even get me started about the tagline "Imagine Greater"...


Monday, July 6, 2009

How the Hell could I forget?!

Toronto Fringe Festival. On until June 12. Get out there and support your friends or the festival in general!

www.fringetoronto.com

Doctor When II?

Feels like we've been waiting an eternity since we heard that Tennent would be passing along the keys of the TARDIS to when it's actually going to happen, and apparently we have yet to sit through more Rose Tyler and every other related character, including the clone of Tennant's Doctor, until we get there. Davies' legacy: more is more. But didn't he do that at the end of season four with Rose et al, the clone, Sarah-Jane, K9, Martha, the Daleks, Davros, etc. etc. etc. etc.?

C'mon, David, give Matt your sonic screwdriver and your fancy starscape backdrop.

Your antidote to boring music and teeny commercial radio playlists...

Robert S. McNamara dead at 93

Not that you need an excuse to see the excellent documentary, The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, but I've just read that Mr. McNamara has died.

Here's the article from The Toronto Star on his passing: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/661449

For the six people who care...


...apparently the director's cut of Watchmen has been leaked. It's now doing the rounds on bittorrent sites. Warner Brothers expected to lose tens of dollars.

Friday, July 3, 2009

A Decade of Spongebob...



Haven't seen many of these cartoons, but what I have seen, I've liked. They're funny and manic. There isn't a "moral" at the end of each epsiode. The evil characters are irredeemably evil in a cartoony way. Zero character development, just crazily-plotted, surreal mayhem. What more do you want from a cartoon?

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Walkman turns 30


30 years of SONY Walkman personal stereos (yes, that's the official plural of "Walkman" according to SONY). Wow.

I figure I had at least four SONY cassette players, one recorder/player, one cheapie Walkman knockoff (called, I think, a Rollyman or some such), and two Panasonic Sports tape players. The SONY ones were always the best, and got used and used and used until they died a natural death.

I always wanted the WM-W800 (double) Walkman. It was way beyond my first-year university student budget.

How many of these did you have?

Easin' the pain...


Just found this online. Down In Black Bottom: Barrelhouse Mamas. Fantastic stuff.