Link – Page 6 – John Soanes

Return Of The ‘Jack

On 22/12/2009

A second series of BBC7 topical radio comedy Newsjack has been commissioned, and like the first series, they’re looking for material from new writers – or old or increasingly-old writers; anyone, really. Which has to be a good thing.

Full details of the show and how you can go about sending them material are located here, and it’s got to be worth a go, right?

I mean, you don’t even have to pay for a stamp (if you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you have internet access). Which is handy, as – let’s face it – very few of us feel actively wealthy as January hoves into view.

And No, I Don’t Think It’s The Result Of A Marty McFly-Style Casting Change After They’s Started The FX Work. I’m Just Being Stupid, As Usual.

By John

On 21/12/2009

In Film, Link, Pictures, Twins, Uncategorized

As you probably know, in the film Avatar, technology allows humans to put their consciousness into artificially-grown bodies (hence the title).

The idea is that the avatars look a bit like the human in question, but all through the film (yes, I’ve seen it: capsule review – very good, but too long), I kept thinking that the avatar of the character played by Sam Worthington, who looks thus:

… looked a lot more like Brendan Fraser.

Is there a medical term for the tendency to ‘pattern recognise’ and seek similarities where there may be none? If so, I have it. Or, at least, an analysis of my posts and thought patterns alike seems to suggest just such a pattern of behaviour.

(Sung) It’s Cutting It A Bit Fine For Christmas…

By John

On 20/12/2009

In Link, Uncategorized

… but nonetheless, if you want to learn some crafty ways to save money on stuff from Amazon, why not have a look here?

The trick about creating your own links to find bargains strikes me as probably the craftiest bit – and it seems to be perfectly legal to do so, in case you’re worried about such things.

Though looking at the site-trackback data for visitors to this site, I don’t think that’d generally be much of a concern, you bunch of reprobates.

[Insert Predictable Piscine Pun Title Here]

By John

On 16/12/2009

In Freebies, Link, London, Pictures, Uncategorized

Now available to download for free, the final episode (of the current run, anyway) of comedian Richard Herring’s podcast series As It Occurs To Me.

In case you’re not familiar with it, or Mr Herring generally, it’s quite an interesting set up – or, if you prefer, ‘business model’ for a show. It’s recorded live in London before an audience who’ve paid the nominalish amount of £10, and then released, without editing, the next day to download for free.

Herring’s been on TV and radio sporadically over the years, but he’s kept working steadily in a variety of areas since his TV shows have failed to be recommissioned, and in the last couple of years he’s started doing podcasts for free – firstly with writer Andrew Collins and then the above-linked AIOTM (as he insists on calling it) – and he seems to be doing all right as a result; his stand-up tours sell well, and I think he was on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on BBC2 the other week. Which probably helps pay the bills, while he carries on doing a job he enjoys.

Anyway, whilst the final show – by Herring’s own admission – contains so many in-jokes as to be almost meaningless to a first-time listener, I’d recommend the series as a whole; it is, as I say, free, and whilst the unedited nature of it means it’s pretty rough round the edges a lot of the time, there are a lot of jokes in the show, as well as (warning) a lot of imaginative profanity.

Mrs Soanes and I were at the live recording on Monday night, and I’d say that, despite (perhaps even because of?) its shameless self-indulgence, it was probably the best of the run, as it contained so many payoffs and callbacks to previous episodes, all tied together in quite a clever way. And some turns of phrase which were both shockingly rude and impressively colourful.

Not one for granny, then, but I’d say it’s certainly worth the muscle involved in a bit of clicking and downloading.

If You Saw The British Comedy Awards At The Weekend…

By John

On 15/12/2009

In Comics, Link, TV, Uncategorized

… you may, like me, have been wondering who did the rather clever depictions of comedians as superheroes.

Wonder no more: Jon Haward did some of them, and jolly well too, I think you’ll agree.

More images, in the form of screengrabs, here.

Eleven Months After I Posted My Theory, Confirmation Arrives

By John

On 14/12/2009

In Link, Uncategorized, venting

In January, I asked if this poo level of service had been experienced by anyone else.

In December, a survey by Consumer Focus finds that 55% of people polled had suffered the same stupidity.

I’m actually more jealous than surprised or annoyed; I wish I got paid in advance for failing to provide a decent service, but unfortunately my day job expects me to actually do the work before handing over any money.

Perhaps performance-related pay for parcel deliveries is the way to go?

Curling Up With A Script Which Won’t Curl Up At The Edges

By John

On 13/12/2009

In Film, Freebies, Link, Uncategorized, Writing

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – himself no slouch in writing terms – once observed that “Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius”, so with that in mind, I’d point you towards an opportunity to learn about writing, by learning from people who are … well, let’s say they’re doing pretty well at it.

Via this link, you can download a slew of PDFs for films which are tipped to win Oscars. For free. Yes, free.

So get clicking and right-clicking, and you can see how it was done in films like Moon, Coraline and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Can’t hurt, after all…

Hello Wembley, Goodbye Dome

By John

On 11/12/2009

In Link, London, Uncategorized

A lot of people don’t care for the work of comedian Michael McIntyre; I’ve heard complaints that he’s too lightweight, that he’s too slick, and even (more strangely) that he laughs too much at his own material.

Anyway, I like his stuff – it reminds me, in a way, of Bob Monkhouse, in that it’s very slick and polished, which can be slightly offputting, but lurking beneath it is a lot of work and comedy knowledge. It’s a funny convention of comedy performance that a lot of the time comedians are expected to deliver lines as if they’ve just occurred to them, I always think.

All that aside, whether you like or loathe Mr McIntyre, I think that very few people won’t see their estimation of him raised by this news report from earlier this week.

As we cool kids say whilst bumping knuckles*, respect is due.

*Not like that, you filthy sort.

Cover Design Aside, I’m Currently Reading – And Enjoying – The First Of These Three Books

By John

On 10/12/2009

In Books, Link, Pictures, Twins, Uncategorized

A smudge under 18 months ago, I suggested that book designers were being rather unimaginative by putting ‘a shadowy figure in a corridor’ on the covers of thrillers.

I have to report that the trend doesn’t seem to be on the wane…

One Of Us Has Matured Into A Deft And Skilled Writer

By John

On 07/12/2009

In Link, Personal, TV, Uncategorized, Writing

Back in my teen years (yes, that’s right, it was a very long time ago), I had a bit of a crush on a music journalist who used to appear on TV occasionally – impressively, she seemed to be about my age, but somehow was a lot more eloquent than my spotty teenage self.

Lo and behold, in the intervening decades, it turns out that Caitlin Moran – for it is she of whom I speak – has become even better at writing, while I… well, my skin’s cleared up, if nothing else.

Anyway, here’s an example of her current work in reviewing TV shows (cut and pasted from the Times website, as Mr Murdoch likes us all to do):

…the voiceover began with the insistence that the Queen’s story “is all our stories” — surely to the annoyance of everyone’s internal fomenting peasant. You can claim a lot of things on behalf of the Queen — admirably consistent hair, biggest jewel collection in Europe, magically tolerant of Prince Edward — but “being like everyone else” is a difficult ball to lob across the courts of reason. Indeed, when it comes down to it, The Queen is pretty much the apogee of singular stories, given that she is the only person in the world who owns 16 countries.

I like that a lot, and there’s more of the same quality of material to be found here. I think her stuff reads like a less venomous, but equally well-honed, version of Charlie Brooker’s work.

Go now. Read columns. Make fire. Ug.

Oh dear, I seem to have regressed to my teenage self. Is this a blackhead I see before me?

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