Retro Yakking

OH NO! What happened to my BBC2?! Agh! — You

Thanks to an extended period of investigation, or at least fiddling around with the buttons on my Freeview remote control, I have been able to ascertain exactly which methods will be most effective in the battle against the digital switchover. More specifically, I’ve produced this handy step-by-step guide to retuning your digital set top box especially for those of you still struggling to figure out what’s going on.

Before we start, you really should read this informational post from last month. Though it refers to the previous retune on 1st October, many tips still apply to the current situation.

Still perplexed? Follow these simple instructions and don’t sweat it so much. Continue Reading »

This week marks the twentieth anniversary of plasticine stop motion stars Wallace and Gromit, an event brought to my attention by today’s Google doodle (pictured above).

In celebration, Aardman have posted a twenty-minute feature with animator Nick Park at the W&G Official site. In it, the Academy Award-winning creator is asked twenty specially selected questions posed to him by members of the fan club. Or at least, the website.

In fact, I think I’ll be so generous as to just leave it here for you so you don’t have to go to all that hassle of clicking around. How rather thoughtful of us, eh? Video is on the other side of the break, though thankfully not a commercial one.

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I’m sure this advert made me believe, as a kid, that all cars were alive.

This is relatively old news, as it’s been around since June, but I forgot to write about it then so here it is now. Remember that old advert for Mars’ Milky Way with the red and blue cars in an animated road race? Well, it returned in all its upscaled glory earlier this year, complete with original theme song and tweaked pacing. Check it out and find some more yakking by hitting the ‘read more’ link.

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What a jolly good idea! To coincide with the show’s 40th anniversary, Monty Python’s complete library of shows has now been made available for download on iTunes.

That’s correct, thanks to the guys at Sony Entertainment, each and every one of the 45 Flying Circus episodes plus Life of Brian and The Holy Grail can now be downloaded via that Internet thing. It’s really rather clever, isn’t it?

I’ll admit to being a casual fan of the Pythons’ work but not quite one of those ubergeeky ones that can recite whole sketches with flawless accuracy. If I’d have grown up in the late seventies I would have most likely been an avid fan, but as it is I’m more of the mainstream persuasion when it comes to television comedy. Perhaps.

Still, off the back of the recent BBC special, I rewatched The Holy Grail and there were indeed some suitably bizarre bits but on the whole it was an enjoyable watch. I’m not here right now to rate and slate a cult classic, however, maybe I shall save that for another time to catch you off-guard in a moment of weakness. Hahah!

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I say, get me out of here at once! Good heavens.

The modern gamer is spoilt for choice. They can load up the latest news and reviews on any new release they’re looking to buy with a few simple clicks of a mouse via this thing I believe they call the Internet. There are gaming networks with hints, tips and cheats as well as discussion boards and forums so people can chat about their experiences with individual games or consoles.

It wasn’t always like this though - time was you had to rely on magazines, Teletext and word of mouth to find out what a game is like. There was another option, though - a Channel 4 television show for kids (and adults) alike to get their gaming fix. That show was known as GamesMaster, and it was quite literally a juggernaught of its time, spanning seven series and the vast part of a decade.

Of course, GamesMaster wasn’t the only computer and video games show on the telly. Many other series looked to emulate its achievements, with varying success, but none really made quite the same cultural impact as GamesMaster, with its robotic Patrick Moore-voiced computer thingy, cheeky chappie presenter and double entendre-laden dialogue.

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