Matthew J Griffin - What's with the pissing cyclops?

Have you ever wondered why we have a pissing cyclops as our mascot?

Well it's because Matthew J Griffin told us to - he's a wicked illustrator from Ireland.

Look, here is a picture of a man and a giant worm he has recently constructed with pens for Irish Angler magazine.



Cool huh?

Anyway give him work because he is good and deserves to continue to be able to live.

His blog is here!

The Old Guys Vs Peep Show

Sometimes coming up with inspiration is a real battle against apathy and the will to just sit on your arse. And sometimes things just fall into your lap, making it almost a crime not to comment on it...

Old Guys - not funnyA couple of weeks ago I inadvertently watched an episode of The Old Guys. Not a whole episode you understand, just a bit, enough to realise it was terrible - your typical Saturday night BBC 'comedy' really. It was so middle of the road in fact, I banished it from my mind. Until last week when I discovered the awful truth; it was written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain. Peep Show's Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain!

There are obvious parallels between them, in fact it's just the cast of Peep Show in thirty years, which *could* be funny. Clive Swift plays the older Mark, and Roger Lloyd Pack is clearly Jeremy, but it's like the idea has gone through some sort of Reithian Vanilla-iser to remove anything which could be amusing, oh and replaced it all with Jane Asher.

Now with two series of the further adventures of Mark and Jeremy commissioned, I demand they ditch this tosh and get back to their day job. At least Rob Webb has the decency to keep his end up, so to speak...


S.Darko...why?

If there was ever a movie that didn't EVER need a sequel Donnie Darko was it.

But guess what? 'They' are making one! I have no idea who 'they' are but I will make them pay.

S.Darko



The beauty of the original was that it was filmed on a such a low budget, it seemed to keep Richard Kelly's crazy imagination in check. Something that was let loose with Southland Tales much to everyone's bemusement. Kelly isn't at the helm which is a bit silly, because if I had created some like Donny Darko, I wouldn't let anyone touch it.

I don't know if its just me but S.Darko seem a little too Hollywood blockbuster. They have swapped the creepy bafflement with explosions and teen angst. Even the sound track which pretty much defined the original leaves a lot to be desired - in the trailer anyway.

I guess I can't really have a valid view until I have watched it. Which I will, even though I know it will make me angry.

The Lost Initiative Season 5 - Episode 6 and the Midweek Edition









Hoody of choice? Why it's the black camo of course.

Ok this is getting old. I will wrap this up on Sunday with my last extra special hoody. It's from a famous 80's Sci-Fi film which is getting a sequel sometime soon. They have even got the old lead actor back and they have even scanned his face so they can make a young CGI version of him.

Upcoming American TV shows

So, I got to see the a couple of episodes apiece for two new shows last week - one of them a big network show (ie one of the main channels in the US) and the other a smaller cable offering. The big surprise? I didn't hate either one, although as you'll see I did lean towards the edgier cable show. More on that one shortly.

Harper's Island is due to launch in the Summer on CBS in the States, the station which airs a multitude of crime drama (CSI, Without A Trace, NCIS etc) and hit reality franchise Survivor. I mention this because in some ways, this is an attempt to make a dramatic version of the latter, as well capitalising on the audience's known appetite for the former.

It's essentially a murder mystery series about a group of people getting picked off one by one by a mysterious killer on an island. No big name stars as such, but fans of British drama might recognise one of the main characters as our very own Elaine Cassidy who starred in Channel 4's great if short-lived drama Ghost Squad.

Have a look at the trailer here:



Like a cross between the movie Scream and Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians, Harper’s Island is perfectly decent, good-looking fun. Although populated by stereotypes and horror movie conventions, it's slick and pacy (with a pleasingly high body count) to keep you watching and guessing who's behind the various stabbings, beheadings, burnings and so forth...! Plus, you get complete closure and answers to everything at the end of the 13 episode run, which is rather refreshing to my mind. Don't get me wrong, I adore Lost (and I'm a big fan of Damages, Fringe and several others) but I haven't the headspace for more complex and intricately plotted drama. Thankfully, nothing to worry about on that front here. Just sit back, switch off and enjoy lots of attractive young things bumping uglies and getting bumped off.

No idea yet who will end up broadcasting this is in the UK - it would look perfectly at home on E4 or Sky One. Time will tell...


Show number 2 is Nurse Jackie - a new Showtime drama. Showtime are the cable channel which have produced Dexter, Californication and Weeds. All good if you ask me, and obviously more daring than the big network station series are allowed to be.It stars Edie Falco (from The Sopranos) as a bolshy, opinionated, talented and flawed emergency room nurse working in a New York hospital. Not much to look at yet, although this is a very very small taste if you're keen.

With her addiction to painkillers and predilection for deciding what constitutes the right way to act (forging a deceased bike courier's signature on a donor card, flushing the severed ear of a violent patient down the toilet), Jackie reminded me of a female (albeit less extreme) cross between Dr House and Dexter - both unique and compelling TV characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the show - it's very funny at times and rather touching at others - and I think it'll be a small, perfectly formed pleasure when it finally hits the screen.

One last thing - I was going to include something on my current favourite British TV show but RGB beat me to it - Being Human is my telly amour of the moment - it's utterly fab and Russell Tovey cracks me up, and makes me cry occasionally too. I heart the other two as well - I've liked Lenora Crichlow since she was Sugar in Sugar Rush and although I've never happened upon Greg Chillin before, he's very easy on the eye. Lots to love here - watch it! It's on the iplayer if you've missed any too.

Batman, Violence. Animation.


What's not to like?


Grim Fandango...a game for life, not just for Christmas

Is one of my favourite games of all time. And I was reminded of its greatness when I can accross this passionate retrospective. It's a point and click and adventure from Lucasarts, when they made games that weren't made of Lego and Starwars.

I think you can find its creators over at Double Fine Productions. A company that still make some wicked games - I think they do the new Sam and Max, which is also worth a gander.

Anyway I also found this rather amazing mask, which somebody has lovingly made - probably for Halloween.


Check out the trailer too, it's one of Lucasart's more accomplished bits of promotion.


You can still buy the game which is pretty cool. So if you have nothing better to do then give it a go. You never know, you may just really really like it. I did and most people are like me...aren't they?

The Lost Initiative Season 5 - Episode 5 and the Midweek Edition








This week's hoodie colour is blue!

Being Human: Good?

Oh Lenora Crichlow, I heart you
So BBC3 launches a spanking new show about a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire at exactly the same time as Kate Beckinsale dusts her catsuit down and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga goes absolutely mental.

Harry Potter mental, where adults read kids books, only because they've got monochrome covers they're like totally the equivalent of proper books.

Anyway spooky timing aside (to the extent they also manage to combine vampires and werewolves), despite the creaky plotlines, and the fact it uses the hackneyed good looking one/pretty girl/geeky but ultimately doomed character dynamic, I'm in the weird position of absolutely loving it. Seriously, but is it only 'good' because I clearly don't like sci-fi/horror/whatever and therefore I've got terrible taste, or is it actually 'good'? I'm not sure, can anybody help?

And Septimus, I'm allowed to like it because Russell Tovey was also in Little Dorrit and therefore it's only one step away from my beloved bustles and barouche boxes.

The Lost Initiative Season 5 - Episode 4



And thanks to Dark UFO for my favorite comment ever from one of their users.

"Got to love the Brits.



Geeky Tom is on heroin."


I'm not by the way, it just made me laugh.

The Lost Initiative Season 5 - Episode 3



Now with 100% more Helen Otter!