Well I really enjoyed last night’s Doctor Who episodes. It was good escapist fun. My only issue is that this stuff moves a mile a minute and it could have easily had been a two-parter with a little more character development. But hey, that’s the nature of TV now. Over on BBC4, I watched some TV from the old school. They did a live performance of “The Quatermass Experiment”, an old sci-fi show from the 1950s. The whole thing was live and it was really good, but I noticed how plot development was a lot slower. It made me realise that the way we tell stories on TV is very different now. The slow-winding tension of Quatermass has been reduced to a white knuckle ride courtesy of Doctor Who. Shame that.
Meanwhile, I also saw the second episode of “The Office – An American Workplace”. The episode was called “Diversity Day” and you saw Michael Scott (the lead character) being rapped for performing an edgy Chris Rock sketch in the office. I liked it, but I doubt anyone else will. The Michael Scott character is a cross between David Brent, Basil Fawlty and Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm. It is delightfully un-PC, but I doubt it will keep the viewership. It’s only enjoyable to those of us who like edgy, “watch-through-your-fingers-with-embarrasment” kind of TV.
Anyway here’s a clip. This is Michael Scott being reprimanded for making racist comments in the office.


Meanwhile, the Pope is dead. Thinking of the Pope always reminds me of Newsround in 1978 when we got through three popes in one year. John Craven explained the significance of the different coloured smoke coming from the Vatican and I remember seeing a picture of the white smoke on the cover of the tabloid. Being only seven years old, I must have impressed my folk when I told them what it all meant. I hope the new Pope is more progressive. While the old Pope was a humanitarian, he didn’t quite graps the contraception issue, which is a shame when it comes to sexual diseases and stuff. He could have done more. Well, I expect Bono will be made the next Pope…well he should be just so he can’t make anymore terrible records. 🙂
The really good news is I am off to see Steve Hackett play in London tonight. It is an acoustic gig and while I am a big fan of Hackett, I am woefully ignorant of his acoustic work. Don’t get me wrong, I own all the albums and I play them, but I don’t study the songs. I know of them, but I don’t know their song titles because these are instrumental pieces. I have a mental block with instrumental songs and tend not to remember their titles. It’s the same with the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, I know their songs off by heart but would have real trouble naming them. Anyway, not knowing all the song titles for Hackett is going to give me trouble when it comes to writing a review. Maybe, I can wing it. Who knows? 🙂

« »