And So It Begins

As a latecomer to the blogging scene and therefore unaware of the unspoken dos and do-nots, I assume I will make many faux pas in my posts, the first one I'm sure has already inspired the reader (by which I mean the my own critic who inhabits the space on my shoulder like a cartoon conscience) to wince by referring to it as a 'scene'. Anyhow, as I stumble on through like a text-based Larry David I will be telling you about some things I like and also some things that I do not, all of which I'm sure you probably will have heard of already as I seem to always be two steps behind what would be referred to as 'current affairs'. Also, so you don't close the browser window due to sheer boredom, I have another blog where I will be posting some pretty pictures wot I did, and some old stuff to make my current work look nicer in comparison, like a goofy sidekick.

I am currently in my girlfriend's parents' apartment in Tallinn, Estonia. I would be doing this from the privacy of my laptop but I can't get the wireless to work. For the flight over here I nagged girlfriend to buy me a book, like a child next to the sweets in the supermarket. The book was Charlie Brooker's The Hell of it All, its a thoroughly good read especially while travelling or sitting on the loo as it is a compendium of his articles from the guardian's G2 and guide supplements and is therefore broken down into nice bite size chunks. Its not just entertaining, as a self-confessed media whore he spends his days in his apartment watching preview DVDs and simultaneously browsing on his laptop, (and writing sometimes too I can only assume) so he knows all kinds of stuff and acts as a crap-filter for the telly - for example, just yesterday I read that the Chinese Olympic opening ceremony was padded out with impressive CGI passed off as fireworks! You remember the office building-sized footsteps that seemed to float above the stadium? Just another clever trick it seems to make us all seem inferior to the achievements of the quasi-communist superpower. On the other hand, the thousand-strong synchronised dancing troupe was indeed real, so I guess we should replace French with Mandarin on the National Curriculum.

If you get a chance, pick up either this or Screen Burn, or Dawn of the Dumb, both of which are in HMV for £3 a pop. (If you are wondering why the shameless plug, its because my brother works there, so nyah) Alternatively if you are a cheapskate like me but don't have a significant other to pester into buying stuff for you in the name of christmas spirit, then you can catch all of his Screenwipe series (suspiciously similar to Screen Burn if you ask me) on youtube. He's also done a series or so of Newswipe and a Gameswipe special, although don't ask me why he decided to give them such cryptic names.