499 thoughts on “Jack Mangan’s Deadpan #214: Palooza at the End of the Universe”

  5. In a bit of strangeness, Netflix Canada is pulling most of their BBC shows as of Sept 15. Hubby and I have been furiously watching Robin Hood (2006)to get it finished by then. We still have about a season and a half to go. At least they gave us some warning.

      • Maybe. I honestly don’t know anything about BBC iplayer. I just know they’re pulling the Dr. Whos, Robin Hood and many other series. However, for a reason we’re not sure of, Top Gear seems to be staying. We were wondering if it was a rotational thing.

  7. *sigh* Summer’s over. Starting tomorrow we’re back to 5AM starts. I was really getting use to that extra hour of sleep.

  9. Because there were no random comments this week here are mine.

    First of the (two)week:
    Cj
    August 11, 2011 at 11:55 pm · Reply
    OMiGOsh a comment a comment! My kingdom for a comment!

  10. Vanamonde
    August 15, 2011 at 7:14 am · Reply
    WAKE UP YOU MISERABLE LOT!

    That was my Sergeant Major impression.

    Very quiet on the deadpan today.

  12. Rhettro
    August 22, 2011 at 9:40 am · Reply
    First hit 261 yards to the middle of the fairway. 71 yards to pin. The hole is up 8 feet higher than where I am standing.

  15. EssBee
    August 24, 2011 at 6:44 pm · Reply
    Ah, crap!

    Maybe you have to be friends with her?

    I’ll post a link as soon as I figure out how.

  27. I don’t know what my hubby has against measuring spoons, specifically the tablespoon. Yesterday he broke it in half while doing dishes (don’t ask me how). That was the second one he deleted for me. Before that he used my tablespoon measuring spoon and I haven’t seen it since. I says he doesn’t know where it is.

    I have to go out this weekend and get a new measuring spoon. Maybe I’ll get metal ones instead of plastic. Won’t stop them getting lost but they will be less likely to break. :cheerful:

  31. Today’s movie: The Crazies

    The DVR write-up: when a mysterious toxin transforms the residents of a small town into murderous maniacs, Sherriff Dutton and a small band of survivors must fight for their sanity and their lives in this pulse-pounding chiller

    Their sanity!

    • Do they have The Pyramids of Mars on there? one of the better Tom Baker stories.

      Sticking to Adams, he also wrote The City of Death, much better than Pirate Planet in my view.

      You do realise Cj has a terrible aversion to English dental work?

  161. I have a friend who started his girlfriend at the beginning (with Christopher Eccleston) and went from there. She enjoyed it from the start. The Weeping Angels was always my favourite but, knowing Cj, might be too creepy for a first episode. The Girl in the Fireplace is also a good one.

    I can’t see what Netflix has as Canada doesn’t have all the shows the US has.

  162. I’m not the guy to ask, but I’ll chime in anyway. I’d go with Waters of Mars, if it’s available. I haven’t seen all that much of the contemporary Who, but I found the first few Eccleston episodes to be pretty awful.

  164. I liked Eccleston as the Doctor, and definitely liked Rose – – but the episodes struck me as silly. Sorry :P.
    Joe Murphy insisted that the season 1 got better after the first few clunkers, but for me, the show was already sunk.

    • Back during those first episodes of the Eccleston era, I called into the Slice VM to trash the show. I remember making a comment about The Doctor fighting Pizza the Hut in one of those early shows.

      By the end of the first season, I had come around and the show had greatly improved. Been along for the wild ride ever since.

  168. Suppose I shouldnt comment then on how, IMO, had Eccleston stayed on as the Doctor for a few seasons he would have surpassed Tennant as best Doctor evar.

    Also, fucking hurricane.

  170. [star wars rant]

    Ok so Hugh emailed this to me:

    http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/star-wars-gets-tweaks-blu-ray-release-232658967.html

    As an artist who works in a digital media, I know I can tweak and edit my photos a thousand times over. But just cuz I can does it mean I should?
    I take a photo, I go through a round of post-production and then at that point… well it is done. Sometimes i consider alternate versions, or I am unsure and show my photos to people whom opinions i trust before calling it officially done. But then it should be done.

    So although George is allowed artistic freedom with his own movies, why keep tweaking it? Especially the stupid changes he made when the special edition came out. The only change I can understand is the one they mention in this article where he extends the end of the prop. There were certain technology limitations when the movies came out that are available now and I can understand him wanting to use those. But ok do 1 round of edits and then let it go. The Greedo shooting first was a huge offense to the bad ass-ness of Han Solo and was a grave grave error on George’s part.

    That being said, the movie is his, so it is his choice to do what he wants with his creation. But as I said in the beginning, just cuz you cand edit and tweak, does it always mean you should?

    [/arty star wars rant]

    • What if Lucas was a musician and Star Wars was a song? We definitely have thousands of other artists doing covers, but would you expect him to perform it exactly the same way in concert every single time, or would you be OK with him improvising a new guitar or drum solo here and there? Why are movies as an art form treated as canon while music is free to be farted around with?

      Of course, I hate remakes in music as much as I do in movies/TV, and I tend not to like any versions of songs except the first version I hear. I’m simply playing devil’s advocate here. Myself excluded, people (in general) tend to be OK with alternate versions of songs, but not movies.

    • I think George keeps messing with it because George is not an artist … he is a technician. After the first 2 (maybe 3) Star War films, he really didn’t have anything else to say.
      Even with those films, his focus was more on developing and showcasing the special effects rather then developing really good stories with character depth.
      His films are just pieces of “hardware” that he likes to experiment with.
      From my perspective, none of his changes have ever been something that made the films “a better movie”. The changes seem pointless and extravagant. To spend his time and effort (and money) to make changes that do nothing toward making the film better … what’s the point?

      I think if he was really a film maker he would spend that time, money and technology and a NEW film.

    • I ceased to care about Star Wars a long time ago (..and NOT in a galaxy far far away).

      Don’t own any of movies on VHS, DVD, although I did see the special editions and the newer films at the cinema.

  173. I need a new watch. Somewhere over space and time I lost mine. It was a really good one and I liked it a lot.

    *sigh* Do you think lost watches are frolicking in a field somewhere with lost socks?

    • I don’t know if you are into Chunky ( Watches I mean WATCHES!) TEB, but I like the Casio G-Shock range, in particular the ones that keep themselves synced with an atomic clock and have a rechargeable battery and a solar cell.

      • Because I lose them so easily, I try not to get expensive watches, Van. I’ve never had to replace a battery in a watch because they never last that long. The last watch I had was a birthday gift last year. I was actually worried about it because it was a fairly expensive watch (around $100) and I knew I’d lose it. It lasted a year but it still went missing.

  175. Good morning, yos. Several comments all in one:

    1) Van & Jack = swoon! Great discussion – loved it. While I didn’t do my assignment and read/watch HGTG, your discussion brought it all back for me.

    2) Hurricane – Jesus!

    3) Eccleston – we loved him lots. He said recently in an interview that he left because the show runners were dicks.

    4) I posted a link to Sly B’s dragon at the bottom of the last show like a dork yesterday morning.

    Mwah all!

  176. Good morning deadpan, and I hope everyone on the east coast is safe from the hurricane.

    My little sister flies to NYC today to start college, I’m also hoping this won’t FUBAR that trip.

    • Hurricane – like we (U.S.) really need this?
      Former head of NOAA said this is one of his top 3 “Worse Case”, storm scenarios. The economic impact could well be devastating long after the storm has passed.

      Our economy just can’t get a break. Every time it starts to show some traction we have some disaster that stops it again (although some of those disasters have been caused by congress!).

      Here’s hoping the storm will lose intensity and drift out to sea. :ermm:

    • What if we offer Irene a good ‘ol Fashioned sacrifice, like say … CONGRESS!

      BTW – as of this morning, Ocean City Maryland was estimating local businesses were already loosing 60 to 100 million dollars due to cancellations. This being the last big vacation weekend of the summer. Of course then, the city also looses the tax revenue on all that.
      All this before any physical damage has cost anything.
      Multiply that times EVERY coastal town between N.C. and Main and young got yourself one more big economic relapse.

  189. Forgot to mention that I really enjoyed this week’s Deadpan. I only got about a fifth of the way through the first book and then went straight for the radio shows. I was scratching my head about why everyone thought that book five ended in such a depressing way, now because of the podcast I know the radio play had a happier ending. LOL For supper tonight, I may have a sandwich maded from perfectly normal beast.

  193. Hugh and I are hanging around here in the middle of the night talking and i brought up that Star Wars rant I posted yesterday

    Hugh sex: don’t forget to tell them we are naked

    *rolls yes* yes Hugh, yes. We are commenting naked, doesn’t everyone comment on Deadpan whilist naked? Wasn’t that a rule Jack set up early on? You are only allowed to post if you are naked? Or wait… that doesn’t make sense, because people are at work all day…. I’ve been taking my clothes off everytime I post, no matter where I am…did he just tell ME to do that? Damm you Jack!

    Ha! I typed Hugh sex!

    Hugh sez: no one is fooled by you!

    the x is next to the z, its an honest mistake. Its typo tlak.

    So anyway, we saw everyones comments and wanted to add to the conversation even though that was hours ago

  194. Re: Used Hair’s comment about why is it ok for musicians to mess with songs but Georgie can’t mess with his Star Wars movies

    Hugh sez: You can’t compare live music to this. Different animal. Live music, live anything, is just not controllable. A human cannot replicate that well. If an artist were to live paint a painting at each gallery it would be different each time. If you went everyday at 2pm to the same place everyday and took a photo of exactly the same thing it would be different every time. If George is remaking the movie for a live audience, then it would make sense it would be different.

    People remaking songs is equivalent to remaking movies.. it is that individual persons interpretation of the original. BUT musicians who put out updated versions of their songs? That shit usually sucks. It never really adds anything to the songs.

    Dre sez: for instance we never bought Trent Reznor’s “Remastered Pretty Hate Machine” why would I want that? Pretty Hate Machine is genius, its perfection. I miss listening to it on vinyl actually. I don’t want a perfect remastered CD updated version of it.
    Although I do agree that musicians are probably given a lot more leeway to change things than any other art form, its comparing apples to oranges. I for actually do agree that the bands original studio output is the true verson of a song. I have never liked buying remix versions of songs for that reason. I will usually always listen to the original album not the remastered, remixed, redone versions. I don’t collect live recordings of bands I love.

    Also, the whole live painting thing- remember whats his name did that… Monet! Monet did that. Went to the same exact spot everyday and kept repainting the same thing. He has like 30 versions of some of his paintings. It’s like, dude what the fuck? move on! Although some people DO think those paintings are genius and love to look at the same haystack painting reinterpreted 30 times. It’s kinda silly. Its an interesting experiment, how the light changes every hour everyday, it is interesting to the artistic eye but that doesn’t mean you should constantly repaint everything.

  195. Re: Hugh sez, vs Hugh sex

    The c is also next to the x, and I many times on our internal work chat typed ‘hold on a sex’ instead of ‘hold on a sec’ to my co-workers.

    oh the laughs we have about that

  196. Re Justa J0e’s comment on Georgie being a technician not being an artist

    Good point sir, good point

    An artist versus a technician would have different ideals. But also, I think every artist is every media does look or listen to their art years later and cringes at all the things they can change. I look at old photos and am horrified sometimes at my color correcting or cropping or whatever. Doesn’t mean I go and change it. BUT to your point he isn’t holding the original as this sacred artsy thing as I do my photos

    Hugh seZ: You are such an art snob

    oh, OH, look whose talking Mr arty farsty pants!

  199. One lesson that the internet has taught me – If ever I decide to get a tattoo with words, make sure the tattoo artist knows how to spell.

  208. Also, woohoo! Naked TSH’s! No naked for me to day, but I did share a beer with a bikini clad woman, sitting on my lap. This counts as a good day.

  209. Also, woohoo! Naked TSH’s! No naked for me to day, but I did share a beer with a bikini clad woman, sitting on my lap. This counts as a good day.

  211. CD: Stone Chocolate Cherry Stout

    tasty, although I’m getting more roast and hops. With the fruit more in the nose. The taste is kinda like dark chocolate now that I think about it.

  212. Hope everyone is ok on the East coast.

    Heard from my brother in NJ. Seems that fallen trees and flooding seem to be the worst he got in his area. He still has his power. He can’t drive home because the whole street is flooded. I am not sure exactly where in NJ he was, but he said he went like an hour inland. He said it’s possible his apt may have flooded and windows blew in back home. Won’t know til he goes there.

  213. In other news.. it seems my industrial music loves are all coming out of the woodwork. In my RSS feed this morning were 2 stories:

    Ministry reunion album and tour next year

    Skinny Puppy new album out Oct 25

  216. I’m not one to complain about the Phoenix heat, but I’ve spent the weekend in good company in the gorgeous Prescott, AZ mountains. I’m not in a hurry to head back to the broiler.

  218. LostRalph will be missed. I am sorry I didn’t get to see you off this weekend, brother – – and I’m sorry I didn’t see more of you while you were here.

    Let me rephrase that.

    I’m sorry I didn’t see you more often while you were here.

  220. 105°F and very dry in Houston – which one of you bastards emailed me Phoenix, AZ? 95°F and 120% humidity I can deal with.

  224. Now this bunny’s grumpy. Went to start a new book, the Kobo books app updated yesterday and seems to have lost my last six purchases. They show up in my purchase history, I just can’t access them to read. I sent them an e-mail telling them what I thought of their last update.

    Guess I’ll have to read something else. *grumble, grumble*

  225. So I guess, instead of All Clear, by Connie Willis, I’m going to read Zendgi by Greg Egan through iBooks instead.

    *grumble, grumble*

  233. So, I bought my 92 year old grandma a kindle so she could read given her failing eyesight. She loves her Kindle. To her it’s the best thing in the world. The only issue I have is when something goes wrong, I have to trouble shoot. Like now. I have to figure out why the damn thing won’t start then try to talk get her to do stuff from over the phone.

    *sigh* I just might have to bite the bullet and drive across town to look at it myself.

  238. Morning pan…. Good news, the antibiotics are working. I can eat semi-solid foods with half of my mouth… Mixed news, it’s the last week at this job. Trying to figure out the next step.

  246. Apparently I’m an important caller and they will be with me in a moment.

    Their idea of a moment and mine are obviously different

  258. So… I got all excited because someone wanted to have an “interview” tomorrow. Then I looked up the company and found out it is a semi-scam operation. Good thing I do my research.

  264. Saw Cowboys & Aliens yesterday. I don’t think it changed my outlook on life, inspired me to try anything new or caused me to rethink my purpose, but it was an entertaining two hours of light fun.

  269. So this article appears to be making quite the geek outrage uproar.
    http://gizmodo.com/5833787/my-brief-okcupid-affair-with-a-world-champion-magic-the-gathering-player

    I used to roll in the same circles as this guy (long before he got his own Magic card). I was never friends with him; he was *way* too socially retarded and just generally not likable. Still – – the article comes across as nothing but a mean and unwarranted attack on him for being a gaming nerd.

    • I read the article. I’ve also read his twitter and reddit responses. He’s handled it very well. I honestly don’t think she meant to come across as mean as she did, but yeah… she portrayed herself very poorly in the article.

      • Well it’s always nice to see evidence that (despite all the protests to the contrary) women can be just as shallow as men when it comes to dating.

  272. I had an awesome hockey conversation with a new person at my bar tonight. I don’t get to talk to true hockey fans very often, and I’m horrible with names, so this left me in a great mood tonight. 🙂

  273. This weeks episode still hasn’t shown up in iTunes on this side of the pond.

    Even when I do a search on the phone, it reveals the latest episode as the 12 August one.

    I’m off to look for black cats crossing my path and count magpies…

  285. As an update, my book app still hasn’t been fixed so I still can’t read the books I have purchased. Nor have they bothered to reply to my email of last Sunday. I am not a happy bunny

  302. So, true as it ever was – “George Lucas has issues”

    Jack Mangan remains my prophet.

    You can have my Star Wars laserdiscs when you can pry them from my cold, dead hands.

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