Heroes

American drama series seemed to have saturated our great shores of late. While great as some of them may be, they tend to follow a well trodden path of crime themes. Take CSI for example, I've not managed to watch an episode in its entirety as I get the point of it. After much convincing by a friend of mine I managed to get around to watching 24. Admittedly, it is damn good. I am watching season 6 at the moment and after five season's I think it is buckling from the strain of having to become more innovative than the last. It has a lot to live up to after five seasons. How many more facets of the crime genre can the industry cover? Indeed are there anymore?

There are the teenage/coming of age drama's. One tree Hill, Smallville and The O.C. Again pretty compelling stuff. Why have I included Smallville? Its about a young Superman. Yes, true but after watching a handful of episodes, it still aligns itself to the two mentioned previously in certain ways.

So, on to the main topic of conversation. Yet another brand new show. But a show with more than just a difference. Rewind about two months ago. A friend of mine, Kumar (he who also convinced me to watch 24) mentioned a while back of a series called Heroes. Intrigued, I asked him what it was all about. And as articulate as ever, Kumar said with a broad grin, "its good". Taking that as a hint, as in, "don't ask, just watch". With that kind of endorsement, I had to believe the guy. Roll forward to about a month ago and I decided to watch the first eleven episodes (thanks to the miracle that is the internet). I wasn't prepared for what I saw next. I would find myself in almost as much difficulty as Kumar to articulate what this series is about. As it is now being shown in the UK, much of the mystery surrounding the series has disappeared so I can safely summarise what all the fuss is about......

Where the X-Men films are all glamour and glitz, Heroes is more...."real". How does a bored office worker who can teleport, an indestructible cheerleader, a man who can fly sound? Oh and there are more of them too with different abilities. This time around, the series doesn't decend into pretty social, moralistic mess It really, truely sticks to the objective that it sets out right from the first episode. Both are based on graphic novels but don't leet that put you off if you're not a fan of them. There is something for everyone in this brilliant new series. You'll be hooked by the first episode. I promise.

Web Conferencing

Web conferencing is a wonderful thing. Except when one doesn't have a web camera. This was the case today for me. Leg a bit mashed as a consequence of slipping this morning. Microsoft Vista not support my webcam of choice and so the built in mic doesn't work either. No matter, as I assisted my fellow colleagues through their first tentative steps toward global conferencing I realised the voyeuristic nature of it all when one doesn't have a webcam. Indeed for a moment as I could only communicate via the chat facility I felt very Big Brother'ish. Other web person's would have to wait patiently for my response. Oh the POWER!!! Just kidding.

Cool stuff and I think facilities like this are a godsend for people with mobility issues or for people who cannot afford the expensive air travel to see far away relatives. On the other hand it can be a little Big Brother when you put it in the context of the "Working from Home" idea. For many, it is an excuse to have a day off and email the report you said you would do on the "Working from Home" day that you actually typed a weeks ago as evidence that you actually did some work. Does working from home mean that if you web conference that you have to wear a suit? Or that the background to the video image at home should look office like? I'm sure some bright spark will create a definition of web conferencing ettiquette.

Pickle

My mate Pickle seemed a little uneasy when I mentioned that I had wrote and post a picture of her mate, my mate, marmite (lets not get carried away). Attention should never stray too far from Pickle for she gets a little upset. So as the the Aztec's or Mayans once did, to protect themselves from the God's anger, they would put a picture up....So here you go Pickle. A picture of you too.....

Incidentally, the Aztecs/Mayans would sacrifice some poor soul. Damn. I must research some more. I shall write a future article on the subject. Or that is write an article in the future on the subject.

Odd

Scientist back Nuclear Burial Plan - The headlines I woke up to this morning. Admittedly in the science section of the BBC news website. So what's the first thing anyone could possibly imagine? A funeral with a difference? Just imagine the neon signs above an undertakers shop. Special discounts for over 80's. What about a buy one get one free? Feel like earth or cremation just don't kick it? Prefer a nice warm glow in death? Steady on...

Burying nuclear waste. What a brilliantly stupid idea. So what if nuclear war did happen and that those burial sites were targetted? The impact of a nuclear weapon is bad enough but then to have one unearth more radioactive waste? Oh dear.

Okay. Being attacked by a nuclear weapon is a remote possibility. What about rising water tables? Global warming suggests sea levels rising. If this is the case then surely at some point the so called tunnels in which these things will be stored will flood. So unless they hope to contain these nuclear canisters in plastic or aluminium (or as the americans would say aluminum...odd), free from rust....

Here's another suggestion. Thousands of years from now and predictably civilisation ends and we all end up eating each other as there is nothing left to each. Climate change has stuffed the planet of resources. The weather is far too extreme to live on the surface. So what do we do? We dig to live underground. Super. As all records of where the nuclear waste has been buried and forgotten, people are unaware that these strange canisters are not some wonderful ancient artifact or a time capsule but something that will most likely prevent them from having babies. End of humankind. In the UK anyway.

Fame at last?

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Or more to the point, that a nice contributor had wrote in the last article something of a coincidence. Supposedly I have made a film. Or should I say an imposter has. How can this be? Did the film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers become real? No no. Anyway, check it out here and see for yourself...

Just remember. All is not what it seems.....

STEAK

After fatefully searching for Steak and Cheese sauce some months ago, I have found the perfect recipe for a stilton sauce to go with my steaks. Unfortunately the ingredients necessary to bring about this sauce contains wine. Surely there must be a wine substitute. Please don't think that I'm going all evangelical on the whole alchohol thing. I was in the pub last night for a short while. But why is it that some of the finest dishes, sauces and desserts contain alchohol of some sort. Okay perhaps Steak and Guiness pie not so good. I had a bad experience with one. Well the person who cooked it for me made a mistake. Whilst the ingredients listed in the book was for four people, we were but two. So accounting for this everything was halfed. Except the amount of Guiness. So while the aroma was fantastic, the overdose of guiness was not...

I had an interesting conversation with a work colleague. While solving one of lifes mysteries in the world of computing, Pilot man (as I shall call him), described in some detail about his eating habits. One not to shun away from such a delightful topic pursued this line of conversation. Which accumulated into one about steaks. Mmmmm. Steaks. And it seems as though Pilot man and I have both been to the same website proclaiming to offer a 72oz steak for free. That's about over two kilograms of cow flesh. It has to be consumed with a potato and salad within an hour. Sounds like a dream come true for both Pilot Man and I.

The trouble is that while Good Old Blighty, thanks to the Blair years, had accelerated the process of trying to become the next state of America by allowing american supermarkets to bring cheap food and booze to the masses, fast food establishments spreading like some kind of disease and finally that place where they have loadsa cocktails and bubbly (on the verge of insane) waiters and waitresses waiting hand over foot to ensure your meal is exactly like the varnish representation on the menu, phew, TGI Friday. Where are these infamous steak houses in the UK? Are there any? Does a road trip beckon with my new friend Pilot Man? Umm. Dunno. Perhaps a trip to the local butchers might work. I wonder how much two kilograms of steak would cost here?

As cunning as a Fox

First of all I'd like to congratulate my friend Foxy on braving the cold morning yesterday to picket her bosses about pay and pensions or something like that. Clearly she mean't serious business dressed warmly with bright pink ear muffs and a bright leafy, seventies, camp, scarf. I was reminded at 7.30am that morning that I promised to bring her coffee. And then again at 8.45am. And again at 9.25am.

I remember when I first met Foxy. I thought she was a lovely lady but ever so quiet and shy. But over time, and just like a fox, she is smart, cunning, inquisitive, passionate about what she believes in (not sure if foxes do that), and versatile. Boy this sounds like a school report. Anyway, the main thing is that I'm proud of what she achieved yesterday. Well done.

Hope the effort has been worthwhile Foxy. I do have a picture of my furry little friend but I won't be posting it....as she is The Fox and her identity will remain secret.

Just a quick observation. What on earth was I talking about in my last post? No need for acid. Just lack of sleep.