80s Computer Games TV Adverts
I don’t recall ever seeing a TV advert for a computer game in the eighties. This was possibly because we watched BBC more than ITV – yes, we were a BBC family; what of it? – but it might also be because they were absolutely horrific and my brain sensibly removed them from storage immediately after viewing. See for yourself with this selection of three television commercials for games available on the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Oric, Dragon 32, Atari, Acorn Electron, Amstrad, and even the MSX. Remember MSX? Hunchback Classic platformer and the only game of the three featured here that I actually played (on a friend’s Commodore 64 as I didn’t actually own it). The Young Ones I didn’t even know there was a Young Ones computer game but I’m sure I would have remembered this advert. You wouldn’t forget an advert this excruciating would you? Rasputin I had some isometric 3D games but not this one. The advert is particularly bad because I can only assume it’s being targeted at cockroaches or ants or some other non-human species that communicates using clicking...
Watching North Korean Television
I don’t speak North Korean but luckily for me it’s not difficult to tell what’s going on when it comes to North Korean television programming as I’ve discovered this morning. If you’re interested in watching live North Korean TV – and why wouldn’t you be? – then the link I was using (and you’ll need a media player to view it) is this one: mms://112.170.78.145/chosun. So, what television programme from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was I watching? It was – I think – the Kim Jong-un Happy Execution Hour Mandatory Funtime Show! This show is the highest rated show on North Korean television along with every other show on North Korean television. Presided over by a robot of the Korean leader, each week an enemy of the people takes part in a series of challenges to determine just how it is they’re to be eradicated from existence. It’s a bit like The Running Man but without the figure hugging outfits. And you thought North Korea was a country with no taste. Shame on you! This programme’s executionee-to-be was an elderly general, one of Kim Jong-un’s favourite choices to die and – by law – one of every North Korean citizen’s favourite choices to die too. The general looked more or less amused by the whole spectacle as the host of the programme (on the right) explained the many ways of death that could be enacted upon him. To the left one of the executioners – I’m going to call her Lady Tar Death for reasons that will become clearer later – ensured that the general didn’t make a break for it. Of course, they never make a break for it but it’s important that North Korean viewers don’t entertain the possibility in their heads either (under penalty of execution) so the presence of a formidable killer is important. And there’s the sex appeal angle too. Being appealed by sex also carries a penalty of execution. The execution building was very impressive. A series of steps – being pushed down them until both hips shatter is one of the possibilities for geriatric enemies – led up to the North Korean leader robot. The Kimbot was flanked either side by what looked like balconies to my western eyes but which turned out to be presses able to rise and fall on the columns crushing flesh and bones beneath their weight. Inventive! The wall of the Kimbot’s alcove featured a film on loop of last week’s execution where a distant cousin of Kim Jong-un had been strapped to fireworks and fired into the sky over the Taedong River. At this...
Science Videos Triple
Here, have some science videos on the house. No, really, they’re absolutely free and contain lots of lovely science to help fill up the science hole in your brain. What’s that? There’s no such thing as a science hole in the brain? Can you prove that? With science?! I thought not. Insect Adventure, Part One As you can probably guess there is more than one part to this insect adventure hosted by Emily Graslie but I’ll just link to this one for now. A great look at setting insect traps in a prairie to see how healthy the environment is. Do you know how to create a trap that attracts insects, ensures they sink to the bottom of the trap, and isn’t harmful to any mammals that stumble on the area? You will. Also: please view this video from Emily on the sexism still prevalent in the science presenting world. Gummi Bears demonstrate Osmosis and Crystallization A self-explanatory title for a very simple scientific experiment that you can try fairly easily at home, demonstrating some very cool scientific processes. Jim Al-Khalili and the Quantum Robin Yes, it does sound like a science fiction adventure story but this short video from (honorary president of Portsmouth Skeptics in the Pub, cough, plug, cough, I’m an organiser of it, cough, boast, plug, cough) Jim Al-Khalili simply describes an unexpected method of navigation used by European robins that’s of interest to biologists and...
50 Doctor Who Facts For Doctor Who’s Fiftieth Anniversary
Well, it’s sneaking up quietly on us – you’d think that the BBC might be promoting it a little bit more yet so far: nothing – but this weekend marks the fiftieth anniversary of the world’s favourite science fiction television show about a regenerating time traveller and his penchant for getting into scrapes with alien adversaries mostly in modern day Cardiff, Wales and Victorian England, England (narrowly beating out Rai Uno’s Signor Mussolini e la Macchina del Tempo Bikini); I’m talking, of course, about the BBC sci-fi TV series Doctor Who. So, to commemorate the occasion of the anniversary of Doctor Who’s first showing on BBC TV in 1963 I’ve compiled a list of fifty facts about the Time Lord, safe in the knowledge that nobody else will have thought to do the same. 1. Many early episodes of Doctor Who have been lost as the tape on which they were recorded was reused as costumes for Blake’s 7. 2. When asked who is the sexiest companion most Doctor Who fans look uncomfortable and mumble something incoherently. But it’s probably Adric. 3. In the episode Earthshock, Doctor Who’s companian Tegan describes herself as “just a mouth on legs”, an inside joke referring to the initial design for her character. 4. On set the TARDIS is known as “The Shaggin’ Cabin” and it can comfortably accommodate three. 5. At the Phoenix 2010 Doctor Who convention organisers accidentally booked Neil Tennant to appear instead of David. Everyone, including the fans, was too polite to say anything so the main speaking event consisted of ninety minutes of uncomfortable silence followed by an a capella rendition of West End Girls. 6. K-1 was infested with robo-fleas and was left by the roadside by Patrick Troughton’s Doctor Who in The Macra Terror. 7. You can tell which episodes of Doctor Who were produced by Russell T. Davies by reading the end credits of the shows. 8. Terry Nation’s bad service at a local restaurant led to him penning a vitriolic tale about Stavros and where he could stick some oversized salt shakers. The BBC’s legal department stepped in, effected a few changes, and the Doctor’s most famous foes were born. 9. K-2 had an incurable fear of beards and had to be put to sleep. 10. A very disturbing storyline was canned when Sylvester McCoy refused to appear in anything so dark. The story was later expanded and spun off into a show in its own right: Byker Grove. 11. I had four “Enemies of Doctor Who” jigsaws when I was young. The Sontarans (pictured above) plus Giant Robots, Zygons, and one other enemy...
Luscious Jackson – Magic Hour
On CD. Which is what we called MP3s back in the old days. And signed. By the band too. You try downloading a signature! You can’t! Here’s the press release: LUSCIOUS JACKSON: MAGIC HOUR OUT TODAY NPR MORNING EDITION INTERVIEW LIVE here APPEARING ON THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN NOVEMBER 18 SHOWS ON SALE NOW: DECEMBER 7 AT WEBSTER HALL IN NEW YORK CITY NOVEMBER 23 AT UNION TRANSFER IN PHILADELPHIA “… like a night out hitting the clubs in New York City: a rock riff here, reggae grooves there, some sugary pop, and plenty of low end. All in all, a good time, and plenty eclectic… the hook-heavy Magic Hour reminds us, at the core they are a dance-pop band not afraid to get sophisticated.” – ASSOCIATED PRESS “Luscious Jackson were to New York freestyle dance pop what their cohorts the Beastie Boys were to hip-hop… Welcome back, ladies.” – ROLLING STONE “Jill Cunniff, Gabby Glaser and Kate Schellenbach were the coolest girls in the East Village when they emerged as the eclectic alt-rock group Luscious Jackson… They’re still the coolest.” – PAPER Magazine Luscious Jackson’s long awaited Magic Hour is finally here, released today, November 5, on the band’s own City Song label. The record can be purchased at iTunes or here. Early response to Magic Hour has been uniformly excellent, with ROLLING STONE, BILLBOARD, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, and more singing the new record’s praises, and NPR heralding its release with a FIRST LISTEN preview and a MORNING EDITION profile – the latter can be heard here. Luscious Jackson will make its first network TV appearance in nearly a decade on November 18, when the band returns to The Late Show with David Letterman. The first live show in the wake of Magic Hour’s release will take place a week later, November 23 at Philadelphia’s Union Transfer, followed by a December 7 homecoming spectacular at Webster Hall in New York City. Tickets are on sale now at: Philadelphia New York...
Review: The NFL At Wembley In 2013
And so we come to the end of another International Series of games of American Football at Wembley which means we can write a quick review of the state of play of the sport in England pleasing both people who might one day search just to see what some guy in Portsmouth thought of the whole thing. NFL: No Fun League For reasons best known only to themselves the NFL have decided that going to a game of football should progressively become more and more like an automated chore rather than any kind of enjoyable experience. The plan to turn attendees into an army of Roger Goodell’s Patented Money-Parting Zombies continues at a fair pace. This year’s new ruling included a vast list of what could and could not be taken into the game which ultimately boiled down to: yourself, one small, clear carrier bag with, a small “non-professional” (sigh) camera around your neck. Let’s take these in order: Yourself: I get this one. This one’s quite important. But to be fair, this one’s one that sports fans are going to want to follow so it’s a bit of a no-brainer. One clear bag: I appreciate that you don’t want people turning up with a week’s worth of shopping as that can be a bit of a nightmare when walking up stairs but it’s a bit draconian and it’s based on an American understanding of who will want to attend the game. In America fans will go and watch their team because they happen to live near the place (near in American terms, at least). This isn’t the case for London. A lot of people go to watch the game as part of a day out because we don’t all live in London. There are people there from all over the UK and wide areas of Europe too. And it’s really quite an expensive day out. In previous years we’ve made the NFL games a great experience by taking the train up to London, seeing some of the sights, doing the whole tourist thing, bumping into other American Football fans doing the same thing, then making our way to the game. These new rules ruin most of that as we can now no longer risk buying a small souvenir at some historic place because the bag isn’t clear or some other stupid rule. This rule doesn’t work for a large section of fans at all. Why one clear bag, anyway? Oh, it’s to stop people bringing in bombs and knives and sniper rifles and by limiting the number of bags it prevents clutter disrupting people’s enjoyment in the stadium....
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