Thursday, September 4, 2008

Random Thoughts XXIII

I love Swiss Cheese

I hate Captcha's. Sometimes they're too hard to read

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1046173/
This is an abomination of G.I. Joe

Did you know that when you wash your hands you're supposed to wash them for as long as it takes you to sing Happy Birthday, or about 15 seconds, to make sure they're clean

Anyone remember the British show from the 80's The Young Ones? That was a good show

It's Friday, August, 1 12:20 am

Why is it, in many tv show and movies, the FBI, CIA and other such agencies are shown to be complete morons who can't do anything while the country bumpkin sheriff, who's never dealt with a homicide a day in his life, is portrayed to be the smartest man on the planet and can solve it almost single handily?

I'm just a love machine
And I won't work for nobody but you


Small

Why do people create Firefox add-ons if they don't plan on keeping them up to date?

I love Root Beer

http://tinyurl.com/6garn4

Why do we put so much emphasis on sex? Especially men. Many of us seem to measure our masculinity by how early and often we "do it"

Like Will Ferrell, Frank Caliendo isn't funny. And go ahead and add Dane Cook to that list as well

I hate computers. They're just so aggravating. I swear, one of these days I'm going to turn this damn thing off and never turn it on again

If you're in a car going faster than the speed of light, what happens when you turn on your headlights?

Ain't nothing like good Rock & Roll, I tell you what

Why does everything fun have to be illegal?

Akira Kurosawa made some amazing movies

A small sample of my Christmas header


When did I start getting old?

I have a notepad saved with a list of words I have trouble spelling. Surprisingly, it's only got four words on it

Strawberry milk is good

"Staycation" is the new buzz term? Well, hell, I've been having "staycations" for over 10 years.

It's August 15, 11:51am

http://tinyurl.com/8heo4

Why does Wal-Mart sell movies and video games with cursing but not CD's?

Can you see your days blighted by darkness?
Is it true you beat your fists on the floor?
Stuck in a world of isolation
While ivy grows over the door

7 comments:

David M said...

Young Ones: A great show indeed.

"Ah Neil, I don't think we'll be haivng any lentils tonight. They are behind a teatering mound of crockery."

Unknown said...

Funny you should mention 'The Young Ones' (I enjoyed it too).

If the young ones was made now, I have doubts that you'd get to see it in america, at least not without being 'remade' so it is 'more american'. There's no shortage of film and TV that; either by 'buying the rights' or just remaking with a different name - without permission, have been remade for american audiences... which kind of defeats the purpose of the exercise.

It also adds to the insular nature of american culture - can't look on the world without first remaking it to look the way american audiences expect it to look.
I sometimes wonder how many americans go to France and are confused when they don't see a bunch of guys in horizontal stripped shirts miming everything...

'nuf from me... my pet kangaroo has mixed-up the forks and knives, so I've got to explain to it 'that's not a knife, this is a knife'

Christopher Lee said...

"If the young ones was made now, I have doubts that you'd get to see it in america, at least not without being 'remade' so it is 'more american'."

Not sure why. We have tons of shows on BBC America that haven't been "dumbed down" for us ignorant Americans.

"I sometimes wonder how many americans go to France and are confused when they don't see a bunch of guys in horizontal stripped shirts miming everything..."

I'm going to say none. The only Americans who go to France are fellow cheese eating surrender monkeys who've never seen a bar of soap in their lives.

Unknown said...

"Not sure why. We have tons of shows on BBC America that haven't been "dumbed down" for us ignorant Americans."

Dumbing down? Not at all what I was suggesting, it's cultural representations - making the context familiar to americans. The examples that I know of are comedies ('the office' is one that you might remember, there are others on the way/more obscure), and actions films - extra original cultural detail stripped-back/replaced with 'special effects' - less story, more explosions.

What's the point of seeking a diversity of content if it's to be remade as just another american program?

OK, so the joke about French mimes may have confused the point... though it is funny that you refer to those ideas of the french that so many americans like to repeat, especially when you consider the role the french played in american history and the influences of 18th century french writers such as Rousseau and Voltaire on the foundation documents of an independant america (they were even nice enough to give america a statue to remind folk what freedom is... ). Sure, you're having a joke about stereotypes, but how far do you have to go to find an american with something else to say about the french other than those narrow views? ...and where do americans get their ideas about the french or anyone else? I don't s'pose that attitudes towards the french have anything to do with the fact that the French and Germans were the ones to highlight the fictional basis for current american wars, is it?
They were quite vocal about the fairytales that the US took to the UN, and the subsequent veto was the reason for unilateral action (with stooges from UK and others to lend legitimacy to the venture). Don't blame the French for pointing-out how the US regards international law (and the rest of the world) with contempt.

Also "Why does everything fun have to be illegal?"
Care to elaborate? My first guess was maybe you were referring to 'certain substances' but I remember a banner on your blog about drugs being for the feeble-minded or something like that... so what type of 'fun' are you talking about?
Let me guess... 'snuff films' made using homeless people?

Unknown said...

"The Best British Gossip From an American's Perspective..."
-BBC America... kinda sums-up the problem. Token representation. No point trying to engage the world if it needs americanising first, or put aside as a 'special interest service'.

BBC America only covers content from England, what about the rest of the world, or even the English speaking world?

...and TV is the most accessible medium, so how do americans engage the world? (other than by invading it)

Unknown said...

Maybe the most obvious example of the american need to hijack anything remotely original, and remake it 'american', is the film 'The Descent' (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435625/
So far it has spawned 3 films that are so close to original that it's sad (The Cave, WithIn, can't remember the 3rd - sitting through 2 rip-offs was bad enough).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402901/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451262/
But if flooding the market with dodgy american fakes wasn't bad enough (the original is British) - the 'creatures' appear in Stargate Atlantis (Se5ep7, broadcast 6-9-08).

This kind of thing makes american zeal about copyright infringement seem a little hypocritical.

So, I do believe a bit has changed since 'The Young Ones' was on.

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