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...
Rob Schneider Or Roy Scheider?
Do you ever find yourself wondering whether it’s Rob Schneider or Roy Scheider? I know I do. And that’s why I’ve compiled a helpful guide to whether it’s Rob or Roy. But not Rob Roy. That would be stupid. Rob Schneider or Roy Scheider? Which is the one who needs a bigger boat? That’s Roy Scheider! Roy is a product of the American capitalist system. He will always need a bigger boat thanks to media conditioning. Rob Schneider or Roy Scheider? Which is the one who “thinks” there’s a link between vaccines and autism? That’s Rob Schneider! Rob has studied the effects of vaccines on children for several decades, receiving a number of degrees and doctorates along the way. Many of Rob Schneider’s studies and double blind trials have been submitted for peer review and published earning him international plaudits among the scientific community. Despite all this he still thinks there’s a link between vaccines and autism because a friend of someone’s sister who knows someone he once shared a coffee with said that someone she knows thought she heard that a doctor might have said that someone else’s child was on the autistic spectrum and that child had recently not died because it had been vaccinated against smallpox. Rob Schneider or Roy Scheider? Which is the one who got to snuggle up with a Russian cosmonaut as they performed an aerocapture manoeuvre in Jupiter’s atmosphere? That’s Roy Scheider! Lucky, lucky bastard. Obviously, it wasn’t just Roy and a Russian who got to perform the aerocapture; they simply don’t have the heat shielding for that sort of thing. The pair of them were aboard the Alexei Leonov in the 1984 movie 2010. Having read 2001, 2010, 2061, and 3001 I can only be thankful that thus far neither of the last two have been turned into movies. Good grief, that last one especially was tripe. Rob Schneider or Roy Scheider? Which is the one who starred in that movie you like but which comic book snobs seem to hate for some reason? That’s Rob Schneider! I know! Rob Schneider appearing in a film I like! What are the odds of that? The film in question is Judge Dredd and whenever I’ve asked people what they think of the film they’ve almost universally hated it. “I didn’t like Stallone.” “It wasn’t very true to the comic book.” “Someone in front of me kept getting up to use the toilet.” Whine, whine, whine. Moan, moan, moan. You’re all wrong. It was a fun movie from the eighties that captured a lot of elements from a lot of different storylines from the...
Science Fiction Fights Triple
A trio of video clips from science fiction movies featuring fight sequences. Equilibrium Christian Bale in a role where he expresses very few emotions – a bit of a stretch for him – and featuring some wonderful fight sequences, this being the last one in the movie. Forbidden Planet A classic movie notable for its iconic robot, its lovely female lead, its thought-provoking story, and its impressive special effects, the lattermost of which is highlighted in this scene where the creature from the id attacks the ship. Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan Often regarded as the best Star Trek movie and this is my favourite scene from it where Khan – in charge of the Reliant – attacks Kirk’s Enterprise. The music score from James Horner during this sequence is absolutely perfect...
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