Can you imagine what 250,000 super balls bouncing down a San Francisco road would look like? Check it out on Sony Bravia’s mini-site.
I highly recommend downloading the Featurette. Simply a great ad, and as one of the camera guys explains, it could’ve been done in a little room on a computer, but the greatness of 250,000 real super balls going down the hill is just too great!
I’d LOVE to do something like that!
What? Stars in a Thong?
Ohhhh Stars Throng to Children in Need.
Madonna may have been completely and utterly rubbish, and Jordan may have been lip-synching while Peter Andre was singing for real, but hey it’s all for a good cause!
Truly, what would we do without Terry Wogan? Granted, I turned the TV off before the news so I won’t be seeing Terry (or Natasha) in tights for their breakdancing number, but all in all, Children in Need is a BBC institution and like no other fundraiser I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been saying this for three or four years now, but I’m amazed at the number of stars willing to make complete fools of themselves for a good cause. (See Eastenders and Catherine Tate. “Do I look bovered??”) And bless the Doctor and Rose for this in-between Doctor-swap episode. Geez, now next season might even make sense! A new, camper and longer-haired Doctor Who!
Good night kids, and don’t forget to donate! (even if the BT network goes bezerk and becomes too busy, keep trying)
Last year’s post on BBC Children in Need
Mr. O is at it again! This time, he’s run off to Italy to learn to cook from the best!
For once, I’ve managed to catch a TV series right at the beginning, and I highly recommend it to food addicts. Jamie and the infamous hippie van visited Sicily’s Palermo for a first cultural shock.
If you’re tempted to grill fish Sicilian-style, the recipes can be found here. My guess is that they’ll add the recipes each week after the show, so keep an eye on that link!
Channel 4, Wednesdays at 8:30pm
The Herbaliser – Good Girl Gone Bad
Well hello Mr. Subwoofer, I forgot you lived under my computer desk!
I wonder how many of us have been either glued to their TVs this afternoon or out in Hyde Park to watch the show either live or on big screen. My attention span being rather short, I moved away from the TV regularly but have had a good overview of the day’s events.
The BBC has certainly given it main focus, broadcasting on BBC One, BBC Two, Radio 1 and Radio 2, and well… delaying further programming by… we’ll see how long good ol’ Paul will stay on, as the show’s not over yet.
What did I see? I saw Dido singing out of tune, then being saved by Noussou N’Dour for “Seven Seconds”, Joss Stone shining like the boho beauty that she is. I was annoyed by Mariah Carey behaving like a diva, using the African choir as an accessory to show she cares about the issues. I was please to see Robbie be his good old self, Peter Kay be his usual nutter self and Paul McCartney be his charismatic self. Scissor Sisters, Annie Lennox, Madonna, not necessarily all at their best today but there nonetheless. So as far as the “show” side of things goes, yeah, it was good fun.
But really, what will the international shows achieve? Too little about Africa has been said and too much about stars who know nothing of reality has been shown.
I’m far from being an expert on African poverty issues, and I was secretly hoping I would feel more informed by the end of today. I was hoping the real issues would be brought up, I was waiting for Bob and co. to give us concrete ways of changing the world and making a real difference. Instead, I saw flashing lights and flashy stars.
In Edinburgh, they must be laughing. The public has spent the last few weeks being distracted by a Radio 1 competition to get tickets to see heart throb Robbie for the first time on stage since Knebworth, and have been more concerned about Pink Floyd’s return than with the real issues that are going to be discussed during the G8 Summit.
Rather than feeling enlightened about the crushing national debts, the poverty and the AIDS epidemics weighing down African countries, I am left with a sick feeling in my stomach that we have been blinded by the lights of these 10 stages worldwide and by the stars who clearly weren’t there to support the cause, but rather to swiftly give their career a bit of a boost. If only they were willing to touch on the problems that are killing 50,000 Africans a day, maybe we’d start understanding the overwhelming size of the challenge. Putting our hands up in the air and singing along to Pink Floyd isn’t going to help, sorry kids!
To quote a few Brits today:
James Coomarasamy, BBC News, Philadelphia
They’ve come to make poverty history, but many of them have arrived in stretch limos, hummers and what I can only describe as stretch tour buses. Perhaps it would have been hypocritical for America’s rock and hip hop glitterati to swap their usual modes of transport for something more humble, but there’s a certain incongruity to their over-sized cars weaving in and out of the golf carts which most of those working backstage are using.
Lucy, from East Sussex, at Hyde Park
I’m just here to watch the bands, really.
Sadly, I think this is the case for a large part of the crowds. It was the one chance to use the time the media and the public have dedicated to the situation to educate and inform us.
I was too young in 1985, I don’t know how much influence the original Live Aid show has had on the richest nations in the world, but this one has truly failed to achieve anything worthwhile in my eyes. Don’t look so self-satisfied Bob, you aren’t a God. You’re just a mighty good pop show organiser.
British people will have heard about this past weekend’s wet Glastonbury weekend. We’ll have seen photos of flooded tents and muddy wellies. But here’s a whole new set of photos showing how, regardless of the mud, Julius Robson and friends seemed to have a great time!
For non-Brits, Glastonbury is some sort of UK version of a Woodstock’ish event, but much better than the Woodstock-revival events as far as I can see from an outsider’s point of view.
If you’re tempted to listen to some of the sets from this year’s festival, BBC Radio 1 has all you need to please your ears.
Does anyone else find Charlotte Church’s hit song’s lyrics a bit well… inappropriate?
Maybe I’ve been bitten by the PC bug, but “I need professional help” and constant allusions to having mental problems because she’s in love seems to trivialise real mental illnesses a bit…
Odds are I’m being particularly picky about it because I can’t stand her, and if it was some random no-name girl band singing it, I wouldn’t care or even notice.
And now, here’s some quality lyrics to brighten up your day…
“So I won’t be responsible,
`Cause I’m really not logical.
No I won’t be to blame,
You know I’m really not sane.I think I’m crazy, think I’m stupid,
Must have lost my mind.
Wondering what I’m thinking loving you
`Cause boy if you were mine,
I’d really go insane;
You’d be my favourite thing.
I’d go ballistic, yeah,
You’re making me a crazy chick. “
Oh yeah, Pop music’s getting better everyday.
I don’t even know where to start with this new season of Big Bro. Actually, a self-inflicted lobotomy may be the best way to start…
Did anyone else notice a theme tonight? A theme of thick, self-absorbed twits if anything! Big boobed nursie Lesley makes Jade Goody sound like a Nobel Prize contender (no offence to Jade of course, I do like the Harlow lass!). Kemal and his ridiculous attire, Mary from Atlantis, Science … who’s name is well… “Science”?! All a bunch of complete tosspots. Wonder what the average IQ is in there?
Doesn’t mean it’s not interesting to watch… Davina is as sweet as ever, seeming genuinely excited about the contestants (and a bit out of breath after going up those stairs? Is your exercise regime DVD not doing the job!?) As usual, Big Brother produces more office gossip than any other show because of it being on live TV permanently, giving the contestants no break whatsoever, unlike most “reality TV” shows that patch together a few hours’ worth of interaction. No one knows whether it’ll be an entire season of nobodies or whether we’ll discover a new Brian Dowling! Actually, I doubt anyone of Brian’s charisma has crossed the golden door tonight.
Talk Talk is still the main sponsor this year, having found a goldmine of gossipy people to target. I’m not sure I like the style of adverts they’ve got so far with people seen from above creating shapes like a telephone or a heart, but hopefully it’ll grow into something more interesting throughout the series.
I can hardly believe we’ve got till August of this rubbish on Channel 4. As the BBC points out, the BB6 launch coincides with Channel 4’s digital station E4, which will show continuous coverage from the house, being made available on Freeview. Now even poor people can watch shit TV 24/7!
Even though this movie got slagged quite a bit in the past few weeks, I have to say I really enjoyed it. It wasn’t that often a laugh-out-loud movie but a constant chuckle and shake of the head at the thinly veiled critique of humankind.
It was a real treat to see so many of my favourite actors on screen at the same time. Martin Freeman was exquisitely British in his quest for normality and a cup of tea, and Zooey Deschanel was just yummy to look at (Ever seen eyes like that?!). I loved Alan Rickman as the sighing and depressed voice of Marvin the cute little Martian (who’s shell was filled by none other than Warwick Davis aka Willow or Wicket the Ewok leader!)
Who guessed right away that the whale’s monologue was done by Bill Bailey? And who spotted the League of Gentlemen guys?
All in all, a great star-spotting event if you know your British comedians, but if you haven’t read the book AND don’t know them, I guess it can appear to be a bit confusing, with the dolphins and the Vogons and the restaurant at the end of the Universe (no the OTHER end!)
So long and thanks for all the fish!
that canadian girl 