Sdtrk: ‘Sur ta moto’ by Karo

Well, this is bollocks. I come home from work to find that not only has Ricardo Montalban passed away, but Patrick McGoohan, too??

Prisoner star McGoohan dies at 80
BBC News | Published Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Emmy-winning actor Patrick McGoohan, best known for starring in cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner, has died at the age of 80.

He died in Los Angeles after a short illness, his film producer son-in-law Cleve Landsberg told Associated Press.

McGoohan played the character Six in the surreal 1960s show, filmed in the north Wales village of Portmeirion.

He won two Emmy awards for his work on TV detective series Columbo, playing different characters.

The first came for an episode of the series in 1974, with another 16 years later.
the rest of the article is here

As I’ve often stated, being within broadcast distance of Windsor, Canada, I grew up watching a large amount of English television, and The Prisoner was one of my favourites even then. Sometimes the reception wasn’t exactly crystal-clear, but I do recall the very first episode I watched was ‘Free for all’, where Number Six believes he can instigate a revolt in the normally placid citizens of the Village by running for the office of Number Two, with predictable results. I’m fairly certain my reaction was pretty much the same as those who watched it when it first aired back in 1968 — one of delighted astonishment, that a television show could be revolutionary, surreal, and engaging all at once. In the hands of someone else, the series probably wouldn’t stand the test of time, but Patrick McGoohan made it happen.
Also: Rover still freaks me out to this day.

Fantasy Island’s Montalban dies
BBC News | Published Wednesday, 14 January 2009

Actor Ricardo Montalban, who starred in the popular US TV show Fantasy Island in the 1970s-80s, has died aged 88, a Los Angeles city official says.

The Mexican-born actor died at his home, the official said.

Fantasy Island ran for six years and centred on a magical island where guests could live out their dreams.

Montalban – who had a long career in entertainment – was also well-known for playing the villain in Star Trek, both on television and in a feature film.

Montalban’s death was announced by Eric Garcetti, who represents the LA district where the actor lived.

David Brokaw, the actor’s friend, described him as a “very courtly, modest, dignified individual,” the Associated Press news agency reports.

Montalban had been a film star in Mexico before moving to Hollywood in 1946.

Despite the fact that I find Star Trek to be a bland series overall, I will fully admit to enjoying ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’, as it goes without saying that Ricardo Montalban’s role pretty much makes the film. Once, I’d seen him on an episode of David Letterman; Letterman had asked him what exactly was the deal with the whole ‘reech Coreenthian layther’ that Montalban used to promote in old Chrysler adverts from the Seventies and Eighties, and Ricardo jokingly confessed that there wasn’t such a thing. Awesome.

RIP Patrick McGoohan, RIP Ricardo Montalban. Both of you will be sorely missed

Technorati tags: Patrick McGoohan, The Prisoner, The Village, Ricardo Montalban, Fantasy Island, Corinthian leather, KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN

Sdtrk: ‘(Keep feeling) Fascination’ by the Human League

Barely relevant: I recently dreamt that I was back at my old highschool for some reason or other, and I was trying to find the auditorium where the arts & theatre classes were usually held. Unfortunately, since the last time I wandered down those corridors, they’d shuffled a couple of rooms around the campus. So I found myself running down the halls, pinwheeling my arms, frantically searching for the arts department.
Let that be a lesson to you.

While I was doing that, alert reader Kat spotted this in the news:

If there’s a male in a dress, it must be Kids in the Hall

Actor robots take Japanese stage
BBC News | Published: 2008/11/26 11:26:22 GMT

First there were dancing robots, then house-sitting robots and now a new breed of acting robots is making its big debut on the Japanese stage.

The play, which had its premiere at Osaka University, is one of Japan’s first robot-human theatre productions.

The machines were specially programmed to speak lines with human actors and move around the stage with them.

Playwright Oriza Hirata says the work raises questions about the relationship between humanity and technology.
the rest of the article is here

There’s actually video excerpts from the play on Robot Watch (under some pictures, you’ll see characters that read ‘動画’; you’ll want to click on the characters).
It should go without saying that I’m looking forward to a day when Androids and Gynoids will be utilised as actors. In fact, I think there’d be a lovely irony in having a bunch of Synthetiks play in a stage production of Karel Čapek’s ‘Rossum’s Universal Robots‘ — only have them play all the non-robot roles, and have the Organik cast members portray the robots…

O, and twenty Cool Points will be immediately shipped, in a refrigerated container, to the person who can tell me where this post’s title comes from. If you need another hint, you’ll just have to listen carefully to the radio in the next vehicle you carjack

Technorati tags: robots, Wakamaru, Robot Watch, Karel Čapek, Rossum’s Universal Robots

Sdtrk: ‘Fade to grey’ by Visage

*claps hands together* Okay, so I’m back from my holidays, and between you and me, they were swingin’. A heady flight to Shinjuku, several gallons of sake, tours to various Doll manufacturer showrooms… it was unbelievable! Completely unbelievable! Meaning ‘it has no grounding whatsoever in reality’. Nah, I didn’t go anywhere.
My actual holiday time was quite alright, though. Got a bit of stuff done round Deafening silence Plus, spent plenty of quality time with the Missus — we watched Act 03 of ‘Time of Eve‘; what were you perverts thinking?? New year’s Eve night found me playing heady sessions of Shadows over Camelot with Zip Gun, Mrs Zip Gun, Derek and Steph. Friday eve, Mari stopped round and we caught up on four more episodes of Xam’d: Lost memories, as well as the 2008 Doctor Who Xmas special (very enjoyable), and Derek and I started Saturday by viewing four eps of the second season of Gundam 00, after which we grabbed sushi, and met up with SafeT and Mari at Zip Gun’s digs for Rock Band and, well, Rock Band. Let me go on record right now as publically stating that I want to punch Rush, collectively, or on an individual basis, for that travesty of a song known as ‘The trees’.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
Prog-hippy bullshit. Any minutes spent listening to Rush are several minutes wasted. And we had to ‘play’ that garbage! GRAAHH SO ANGRY

Thanks to the contribution of a kind colleague/benefactor, namely Jaems (thanks again, mate), I now have a webcam, where I can really make people regret that they added me to their Skype lists. It’s more fun than I thought it would be, but sometimes there are instances when I look like I was dragged through a hedge backwards, then stuffed into a burlap sack and tossed into a cement mixer, and I don’t want to subject people to that. I’m reminded of an episode of ‘The Jetsons’, where a housewife friend of Jane Jetson’s is calling her via their videocameraphonething. Jane looks a wreck, as she’d just rolled out of bed, so she puts on a rubber mask of her own perfectly-made-up face, and answers the phone. The humour occurs when Jane’s friend’s facemask falls off, as she had just gotten up for the day. Ahh, future comedy. Instead of going to that extreme, I thought about printing up SEELE’s legendary ‘SOUND ONLY‘ graphic to point my webcam at that whilst I go through the trouble of putting some clothes on and whatnot. We’ll see.

Since I haven’t made resolutions for nigh-on a decade now — I believe that once you call it a ‘resolution’, that guarantees that it won’t get done — pretty much my goals for this year are to
+ try not to let work get to me as much, as it’s ultimately not worth it. I speak to a lot of lying slack-jawed fuckwits at my job, and short of using a claw hammer, there’s no way I’ll be able to change their behaviour
+ Having said that, I really need to look for something new. Preferably a job where I’m not speaking to a lot of lying slack-jawed fuckwits
+ to get ‘Kitten with a Whip!‘ back online for reals, yo. Can you believe it’s been almost five years since my silicone significant other has had a noteworthy web presence? That’s gotta be rectified ASAP. Frankly, I’m surprised Shi-chan’s not tried to throttle me or similar. But at least she has an amusing Twitter feed

There you have it; first post of the year. So were your New year’s festivities relatively carnage-free, then?

Sdtrk: something from the ‘Space channel 5 Part 2 “Uki uki” Non-stop Megamix’ soundtrack

Heh; dreamt last night that a company had assembled a very lifelike and rather convincing Sarah Palin Gynoid. The technicians were stretching her silicone face onto her skull, and she had that glassy-eyed look that we all remember so well, and I was like, ‘yep, she looks just like the original’. My hope would be that the Gynoid version would be working for good, not evil, much like a reverse version of ‘Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla’.

This will undoubtedly be the last post on ‘Shouting etc etc’ *crowd cheers* until 2009 *crowd boos*, so I have to play to type and mention something about Synthetiks. As previously mentioned, Kokoro Co. Ltd. were finally prepping their latest Gynoid, Actroid DER3, for her debut; which, strangely enough, was in Thailand.

From that video, you can see that her body and facial movements are even more fluid than her predecessors — there’s probably more servos inside of her — but the one thing that really stood out is that she can actually move one of her legs now. When she’s singing that awful T-pop song and dancing towards the latter half of the footage, she’s shimmying a bit, as unlike her older sisters, she’s not bolted to the floor through both legs, which is obviously an improvement. One down, one to go!
There’s also a video you can grab from Kokoro’s site; the editing’s a bit rubbish, but it’s still worth viewing.

So when are we going to see all the mechanical progeny of Prof.Ishiguro gathered together? Simroid, Geminoid, the live-action Holon, Ando-san, all of the Actroids that were at the 2005 Aichi World Expo… even Repliee R1, the Gynoid version of Prof.Ishiguro’s daughter that, despite my dislike for the adjective ‘creepy’ in the context of artificial humans, even I have to concede that point towards her. But yeah, get them all together in one room, and I can’t conceive of a better opportunity for a family portrait…

And finally, I nearly forgot to add I got a wee mention and a link in a pro-RealDoll article on the site ‘Open Your Heart To The Love‘. I’m referred to as ‘the leading authority’ on Synthetik companions. Flattery will get you everywhere. 🙂

Until then, Sidore and I wish you a Happy 2009, and we’ll see you lot next year! Which is later this week. Nevertheless!

Sdtrk: ‘I’m in love with a German film star (long mix)’ by the Passions

‘Shouting etc etc’ is down to DEFCON level 5, as yesterday, I successfully upgraded my WordPress version to 2.7. I didn’t have to sacrifice any goats or children or anything! Well, just one child, but he was a spotty little bastard, so I actually did the neighbourhood a favour. How did I manage to pull that off, you axe? The WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin. Unzip it, upload it, activate it, click a couple of buttons, honk the horn, ring the bell, and voila! New version acquired! As I backed up some unneccesary stats, the backup process, and therefore, the entire upgrade process, took a wee bit longer than it normally should’ve, but nothing on ‘Shouting etc etc’ shattered like glass when it finished up, so I’ll call it a success. Not one hundred per cent success, mind you — I don’t think the Plugins list plugin (how very meta) that I’m using works properly with WP 2.7, as it doesn’t list all the plugins I’m using as links, but still. (FUTURE EDIT: Plugins list plugin updated 27 Dec)
All hail the Automatic Upgrade plugin! Making life easier for lazy unattentive tossers like myself. Well done!

And while I was at my parents’ house for Crimbo, I learned that Eartha Kitt, Catwoman and cabaret star, unexpectedly passed away.

US singer Eartha Kitt dies at 81
BBC News | Thursday, 25 December 2008

American singer, dancer and actress Eartha Kitt has died at the age 81, her friend and publicist has said.

Kitt died of colon cancer on Thursday, Andrew Freedman said.

She was one of the few artists to be nominated in the Tony, Grammy and Emmy award categories and was a stalwart of the Manhattan cabaret scene.

She famously played Catwoman in the Batman television series in the 1960s and was known for her distinctive, feline drawl.

She also had a number of hit songs, including Old Fashioned Girl, C’est Si Bon and Santa Baby.

Kitt was blacklisted in the US in the late 1960s after speaking out against the Vietnam War at a White House function.
the rest of the article is here

First Bettie Page, and now Eartha? I’m not liking this

Sdtrk: ‘Turritopsis’ by To kill a petty bourgeoisie

Links! It’s like likes, it’s like licks. It’s even a bit like lax!
I, ah, don’t know where I was going with that.

+ Having recently popped round the forum on Broadcast’s official site, hoping to find some news of a new album, cos with each release they lose a member, and soon, the band will be reduced to just Trish playing a theremin by herself onstage, there was a thread concerning groups that sound similar to Broadcast. Two bands that struck my fancy: To kill a petty bourgeoisie, which are kind of a more dissonant and soundtracky collision of the Sixties-era BBC Radiophonic Workshop sound with Shoegazer, and The new lines, which is headed by Hewson Chen, formerly of the late-lamented indie-synthpop duo Vitesse. I’ve been playing the hell out of ‘dc1’ and ‘th case fr public organisation’ on their Myspace player. And soon, you will be too! I guarantee it

+ Almost twenty years ago, David Lynch filmed a perfectly normal little television series called ‘Twin Peaks‘ in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington. Recently, some obsessive has undertaken a project to photograph various locations that were used in the series, to show what they look like now. If nothing else, you have to admire his determination

The Double R Diner, then

(Not quite) The Double R Diner, now

+ People with more time and scissor dexterity than myself are rather keen on papercraft, which is a hobby centred round cutting out pre-printed shapes, folding them up, and slotting them together, resulting in all manner of amusing objects. A prime example would be what you can find on cubeecraft. ‘Download, Print, Cut, Fold’ as they say there. They boast a growing array of characters in .pdf form as well, such as Number Six from The Prisoner, or Oh Dae-Su from ‘Oldboy’, or Brock Samson, or the Prince from Katamari Damacy, just to give a few examples. So why not fire up the ol’ dot matrix and assemble a couple of your favourite characters, instead of sitting on the Internet all day… o, wait

+ Have you considered the humble tetrapod lately? Have you??

photo by kana_m

Hit the beach anywhere in Japan, and you are likely to see endless piles of tetrapods — enormous four-legged concrete structures intended to prevent coastal erosion. By some estimates, more than 50% of Japan’s 35,000-kilometer (22,000-mi) coastline has been altered with tetrapods and other forms of concrete. Critics, who blame the tetrapod invasion on decades of excessive government spending designed to bolster the construction industry, argue that in addition to posing a danger to swimmers, surfers and boaters, tetrapods actually accelerate beach erosion by disrupting the natural processes that shape the coastal environment. Meanwhile, others have developed an aesthetic appreciation of the tetrapod landscape, as evidenced by a host of stunning Japanese tetrapod photos on Flickr.
from a post on Pink Tentacle

I’ve always thought tetrapods were cool, but then, I would. Frankly, I’m surprised that there aren’t like significantly scaled-down versions that you could buy to use as home accents or whatnot. Think of it! Toy tetrapods! I’m hoping someone will take that particular ball and run with it

+ For nearly a decade, I’ve always gone on public record as being in love with the city of Toronto, Ontario, and wanting to eventually move there. But lately, I’ve been reconsidering. For instance, with the weather being as polar as it’s been in Michigan, what godforsaken arctic winds would I have to put up with the further north I were to go? So these days, my party line is Bye bye Toronto, Hello Milwaukee! And after viewing this informative video, I’m thinking I won’t be the only one to want to relocate there!

+ Finally, anyone who’s aware of my manias interests knows that I like squirrels. Not as much as cats, and certainly not on the level of one of my ex-coworkers who loved pigs and had about a billion pig-related pieces of ephemera all over her cubicle, but I think squirrels are endearing little critters. To that end, I give you (not literally) a purple squirrel.

STEP ONE: soak squirrel in bucket of grape Kool-Aid

Purple squirrel baffles experts
telegraph.co.uk | 12:38AM GMT 22 Dec 2008

A purple squirrel which appeared at a school has baffled experts who are unable to explain its colour.

Teachers and pupils at Meoncross School in Stubbington, Hants, were amazed when they saw the creature through the window during a lesson.

Since the squirrel, now nicknamed Pete, was first seen, it has become a regular fixture at the school but no one has been able to say whether the animal has fallen into purple paint, had a run-in with some purple dye, or whether there is another explanation.

Dr Mike Edwards, an English teacher, said: “I was sitting in my classroom and looked out the window and saw it sitting on the fence. I had to do a double take.

“Since then it’s been a bit of a regular at the school – everyone’s seen it.

“We thought it might have been paint or something but then when you look at it up close, it’s an all over coat, not in patches like you’d expect if it had been near some paint.

“Its fur actually looks purple all the way through. It’s an absolute mystery.”
the rest of the article is here

Looks a bit Photoshopped to me, but anything’s possible in this day and age, really. *coughthatcatwithtwosetsofearscough*

So you lot can keep yourselves busy with those! I might try to pop off one more post before the end of the year, but I’m going to give upgrading to the latest WordPress a go, so wish me luck that it doesn’t turn out like the last time I tried upgrading without proper adult supervision. Man. *shakes head*
In the meantime, Happy (belated) Festivus, and Happy Holikwanzimasnukkah! Hope it’s enjoyable for you all! And don’t forget that the Doctor Who 2008 Xmas special is on tomorrow, for those of you who have access to that sort of thing. Allons-y!

Sdtrk: ‘Beechwood park’ by the Zombies

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It’s pretty obvious that you don’t make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you’re annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they’re only human. And it’s humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

Gotta love that last line — I agree with it 100%, but it’s almost completely non sequitur. What, did Light Yagami write that bit? Or Ragnar Redbeard?
Couple the results of this test, with the results of this one taken aeons ago, and these should be sufficient enough to nab me a proofreading job, as far as I’m concerned. Remember, potential employers: you could do worse