The Copydesk

Dial 'H' for Hero

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:22:00 +0000

Heroes Network is a website dedicated to putting real-life superheroes in touch with each other, in order to help them combine efforts and help save the world.

Build yourself a snack

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:16:00 +0000

Lego team up with Kellogg's to teach children how to choke themselves.

Younger Still

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 07:57:00 +0000

The trailer for David Fincher's new movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, is now available.

As many blogs have already commented, it looks mesmerising.

Loosely adapted from short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, published in 1922, it centres on the eponymous Benjamin Button, a man born old who then lives his life in reverse - ie. getting younger as time passes.

I can't find any information to the contrary, but I would suspect it heavily influenced Philip K Dick's science-fiction novel, Counter-Clock World which describes a future in which time has started to move in backwards, resulting in the dead reviving in their own graves, living their lives in reverse, eventually ending in returning to the womb.

Expect a few movies like this to appear over the coming months and years, including an adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's quite brilliant novel The Time Traveller's Wife.

Separated at birth?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:54:00 +0000

Is the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King related to the science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury?

The Time Traveller's Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 18:42:00 +0000

Ronald L. Mallett is the unlikely name for an African-American physicist working on a fully-funded project to build a time machine.

In 1955, when Mallett was 10 years old, his dad died suddenly of a heart attack. Inspired by events described in H.G. Wells' pioneering work of fiction The Time Machine, Mallett has made it his life goal to create an actual time machine, so he can go back and warn his dad not to smoke.

You can find out more about him at Wikipedia and inspect the plans for his device, which is intended to bend light, or something.

Maverick director Spike Lee is set to make a film about Mallett's life.

Note: 1955 is the year Marty McFly accidentally journeys back to in Back to The Future.

The Video Nasty Project

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:14:00 +0000

A blog dedicated to watching the original 'video naties', so you don't have to.

Found on LMG.

Foxxy

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:06:00 +0000

Firefox 3 is out.

Go download it.

Antiheroes

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:48:00 +0000

Jason Kottke recently linked to a New Yorker article by George Saunders in which he describes an idea for a TV show: everyone on earth thinks that they have superpowers but they really don't.

The basic premise of Mark Millar's mini-series, Wanted, was a world of super-heroes that has been taken over by super-villains; only the super-heroes have been convinced by the villains that they're ordinary people.

Wanted hits the big screen in the next few weeks.

Tick Glock

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Things you find on Wikipedia #7: Extensive details on the make-up of the Glock pistol.

Office worker goes ka-ka-cuckoo

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:54:00 +0000

http://view.break.com/513310 - Watch more free videos

Hilarious video of an office worker losing the plot.

The Wire

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:53:00 +0000

Over the past few weeks, I've had the pleasure of watching every single episode of the HBO series The Wire.

Comprising 60 episodes over five seasons, the series revolves around the drug trade in Baltimore, Maryland - largely focusing on the quite different views of the Baltimore Police Department and the city's drug dealers.

It didn't make a massive impact here in the UK, due to airing on the satellite/cable channel FX (most of the mainstream UK channels wouldn't touch it because of the excess swearing and violence), but it has been gathering a cult audience over the past year or so from downloads and DVD sales.

The unconventional setting, the maverick directing, the psuedo-realistic acting and well-crafted scriptwriting helps the show weave its way through six years of complex storylines - all with a central theme of wire-tapping the Baltimore criminals at the heart of city's drug trade with a view to prosecuting the kingpins (although, the "wire" metaphor stretches beyond the simple notion of phone-tapping).

But it doesn't stop there.

Politics, corruption, interpersonal relationships, career ambitions, religion, immigration, unemployment, race-relations, inner-city social problems, housing, human trafficking, prostitution, murder, homelessness, education, poverty, gun crime, news reporting - and the failure of the criminal justice system to track down and punish the people responsible for polluting the city with drug crime (as well as those who protect and police them) all raise their heads at some point throughout the show, with each series set in a different aspect of the city (the street, the port, city hall, the school system, and the print news media).

From the intricate plotting, to the wealth of rich characters spanning the 60-odd hours (some 195 characters in all) ranging from the chronically-flawed homicide detective Jimmy McNulty to the crack-addicted street urchin Bubbles - it must surely rank as one of the best television shows of all time.

Season Five in particular takes the viewer in a direction like no other television programme I've ever seen before, and will probably never see again.

If you find yourself watching programmes like ER, CSI and Bones - you're not only wasting your time, you're missing out on the opportunity to watch quality television that will ultimately take its place in history.

Go now, and buy Season 1 on DVD right now - it'll be the smartest purchase you make all year.

'No doubt, tru dat.

Google and copyright

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 28 May 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Back in 2003, I blogged about Google scraping websites and storing cache copies, which I felt was a breach of my copyright.

Subsequently, I changed the settings on The Copydesk so that Google can index my site, but not keep a copy.

However, it looks like I might be proven right in thinking Google's practice is unlawful, with news that a Belgian newspaper company are to sue them for �39m in damages from Google for publishing and storing their content without paying or asking permission.

Sydney Pollack dies

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Tue, 27 May 2008 10:18:00 +0000

The director Sydney Pollack has died of cancer, aged 73.

Most people will recognise him for his directing talent, including movies like 'Tootsie', 'The Firm' and 'Out of Africa', but he was also an accomplished actor, filling in when Harvey Keitel dropped out of Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' and picking up small roles in movies and shows like 'The Sopranos' and 'Will & Grace'.

Are you tougher than a five-year-old?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:55:00 +0000

Justified and Ancient

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Sun, 25 May 2008 18:11:00 +0000

Apropro of nothing, here's a bit of nostalgia.

No News today

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:31:00 +0000

The Day There Was No News.

Via Kottke.

Best telly ever?

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:03:00 +0000

Empire has produced a list of The Best TV Shows Ever.

The Simpsons is a pretty good number 1, but I would never have put Buffy at 2 or Friends at 7 (Friends simply can't hold a light to Seinfeld, Fawlty Towers, The Office or Frasier).

Similarly, I would have thought The Wire would be further up the top 5, possibly closer to 1.

Apart from that, the top 10 is difficult to argue with, although maybe Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, The Prisoner, Monty Python, Life on Mars, Only Fools and Horses, Doctor Who, Blackadder and Father Ted should be among the elite instead of drifting out of the list - or not showing up at all in the case of The Prisoner.

All in the mind

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:06:00 +0000

Albert Hoffman, the inventor of LSD, has died, aged 102.

Dog Eats Dog Eats Man Eats Dog Eats Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:41:00 +0000

This Copydesk entry from 2003 detailed a bunch of different types of dog-bites-man-bites-dog-bites-kids-bites-dog stories.

Here's another, about a woman who bit a dog that attacked her dog.

Winging the voice

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:29:00 +0000

The things you find on Wikipedia #6: Actress Debra Winger provided components of the voice of ET The Extra Terretrial.

Her voice was digitized, and she was not credited for the role.

DIY satellite installation man kills wife

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:35:00 +0000

Man shoots hole through wall while installing satellite TV and kills wife

Patsy Long, 34, of Deepwater, died after being shot in the chest with a .22-caliber handgun on Saturday. Her husband, Ronald Long, fired the shot from the inside of their home after several unsuccessful efforts to punch a hole through the exterior wall using other means.

The Odyssey ends

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:35:00 +0000

The man behind the original story that went on to become 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C Clarke, has died at age 90.

It only occurred to me after I'd heard the news of Clarke's death, but 2001: A Space Odyssey was 40 years old two weeks ago.

You can read my article published in The Herald 10 years ago celebrating the 30th anniversary of the movie.

It was my first ever article for a major newspaper, and effectively the earnest start of my career in journalism.

The Rolling Stones logo

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:39:00 +0000

Exploding popular myths #1: The Rolling Stones logo.

Contrary to popular belief, The Rolling Stones 'lips and tongue' logo was not designed by Andy Warhol, but by a British graphic artist John Pasche.

Iron Man

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:09:00 +0000

The new trailer for Iron Man looks promising.

Harry Potter fans are "junkies"

noreply@blogger.com (Martin) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:57:00 +0000

According to some bullshit being peddled by Dr Jeffrey Rudski, Harry Potter is as addictive as drugs.

In a so-called report in the Daily Mirror newspaper, one in ten Potter fans were said to be experiencing "withdrawal symptoms" after JK Rowling's book series came to an end with last year's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Dr Rudski said another 20% of Potter fans were "near-addicts".

"Addiction to a drug is no different to an addiction to Harry Potter," he added.

Yeah, I can see hoardes of zombified kids walking the streets now, begging for some more Hagrid.