I True Detective - until the last show it was stunning. Finale = was lazy - Matthew McCononhey [sp] is so great at laid back Southerner. Fiddling with those lager cans was epic suspense.
I've just bought MASH on DVD - I have to block out a few days to binge it.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Any Fox or CW show recycles actors like I don't know what. The Canadian shows have a small pool to fish in and I play Where Did I See You Before in almost every one.
I felt StarGate was a bit too silly for me and slow - and I do silly. I liked Stargate with Mr Carlisle. Which one was that?
PS I've got all the ancient Dr Who's recorded via Horror Channel - we're saving Colin ones now.
Bloody weird seeing him as House after George (in Blackadder) though. Almost as disconcerting as having Crichton and Aeryn in the last two series of Stargate: SG-1.
I like the way the Stargate team cast actors from other sci-fi series. I think it's clever marketing, and I like seeing the actors again.
It would be better still if they kept their original characters too. Aeryn Sun was a much better character than the Stargate one.
Stargate Universe? That's the one that killed off the franchise sadly.
SG1 was one of my favourite series of all time. Though it should have ended at the end of season 8 (before the 2 Farscape characters joined). Season 8's finale finished off the overarching storyline the show had always been about, season's 9&10 dragged it out too far making it feel a tad stale which was a shame.
From what I heard what became SG-1 seasons 9-10 was supposed to be a retool of the show named Stargate Command instead, with all new characters, but I guess the producers got cold feet, and as you say had to carry on after what was unmistakably the big send off.
I did love how Stargate had actual serving senior military officials cameo on a few occasions. I guess they liked the idea of the US Airforce professionally becoming the secret defenders of 2 entire galaxies in the span of 10 years.
On the subject of sci-fi actors cycling between shows, I think part of that is down to where they are filmed - it feels like a lot of sci-fi gets filmed up around Vancouver, and you start to recognise many of the faces.
I wonder how much of a handicap Jim Murphy's choice of temporary twitter handle being @JimForScotland instead of @JimForEastRen might have made him come across as arrogant.
Well, more arrogant.
Yeah right - having the right Twitter handle is absolutely critical to electoral success. This is clearly why he is going to lose.
I don't think Labour will end up in single figures in Scotland. Some Edinburgh and surrounding seats are inching back to Labour from the SNP.
Is Dagenham in play now ?
I spoke for hours yesterday with a reasonably big name in Dagenham life... and he is prob voting UKIP.. but he doesn't live in Dagenham!
Some of local activists think theyre in with a chance.. but others say in a seat w no UKIP councillors, victory is v unlikely
I can't see it. The Conservatives remain strong and Jon Cruddas is a popular MP.
Cruddas is a sympathetic ear to local/working class concerns (what used to be known as a typical Labour MP)
I like him, my Dad is a teacher in the borough and he likes him (though is voting UKIP in Hx and Upm) and putting it crudely, dont think the racial mix in Dagenham and Rainham now is conducive to a UKIP win anyway... strong second IMO, although YOuGOv nowcast has it TCTC
My Mum is steadfast in her support of Labour as she hates Tories.. trying to get her to vote UKIP tactically to keep them out in H&U
BTW for less than brilliant campaigning can anyone beat Pete Wishart who wrote to the Courier this week complaining that people were planning to vote against him tactically in Perth and North Perthshire and how unfair this all was (thereby publicising the possibility)?
Might make some references to that letter on the doorstep this afternoon.
Not necessarily a numpty at all. If you can show your opponent is the one the Tories are sneakily voting for ...
Any Fox or CW show recycles actors like I don't know what. The Canadian shows have a small pool to fish in and I play Where Did I See You Before in almost every one.
I felt StarGate was a bit too silly for me and slow - and I do silly. I liked Stargate with Mr Carlisle. Which one was that?
PS I've got all the ancient Dr Who's recorded via Horror Channel - we're saving Colin ones now.
Bloody weird seeing him as House after George (in Blackadder) though. Almost as disconcerting as having Crichton and Aeryn in the last two series of Stargate: SG-1.
I like the way the Stargate team cast actors from other sci-fi series. I think it's clever marketing, and I like seeing the actors again.
It would be better still if they kept their original characters too. Aeryn Sun was a much better character than the Stargate one.
Stargate Universe? That's the one that killed off the franchise sadly.
SG1 was one of my favourite series of all time. Though it should have ended at the end of season 8 (before the 2 Farscape characters joined). Season 8's finale finished off the overarching storyline the show had always been about, season's 9&10 dragged it out too far making it feel a tad stale which was a shame.
On the subject of sci-fi actors cycling between shows, I think part of that is down to where they are filmed - it feels like a lot of sci-fi gets filmed up around Vancouver, and you start to recognise many of the faces.
I'm sure that's true for extras/minor characters, but I think its a deliberate policy of cross-selling too.
Those main cast actors bring sci-fi fans from their previous roles with them to the new sci-fi project.
I don't think Labour will end up in single figures in Scotland. Some Edinburgh and surrounding seats are inching back to Labour from the SNP.
Is Dagenham in play now ?
I spoke for hours yesterday with a reasonably big name in Dagenham life... and he is prob voting UKIP.. but he doesn't live in Dagenham!
Some of local activists think theyre in with a chance.. but others say in a seat w no UKIP councillors, victory is v unlikely
I can't see it. The Conservatives remain strong and Jon Cruddas is a popular MP.
If ICM is accurate (which I still think is a pretty big if) then Jon Cruddas might be in with a chance of becoming Labour leader in a few weeks, were he to change his mind about being modest and actually go for it. Not that I suppose that would influence the Dagenham vote either way.
Any Fox or CW show recycles actors like I don't know what. The Canadian shows have a small pool to fish in and I play Where Did I See You Before in almost every one.
I felt StarGate was a bit too silly for me and slow - and I do silly. I liked Stargate with Mr Carlisle. Which one was that?
PS I've got all the ancient Dr Who's recorded via Horror Channel - we're saving Colin ones now.
Bloody weird seeing him as House after George (in Blackadder) though. Almost as disconcerting as having Crichton and Aeryn in the last two series of Stargate: SG-1.
I like the way the Stargate team cast actors from other sci-fi series. I think it's clever marketing, and I like seeing the actors again.
It would be better still if they kept their original characters too. Aeryn Sun was a much better character than the Stargate one.
Stargate Universe? That's the one that killed off the franchise sadly.
SG1 was one of my favourite series of all time. Though it should have ended at the end of season 8 (before the 2 Farscape characters joined). Season 8's finale finished off the overarching storyline the show had always been about, season's 9&10 dragged it out too far making it feel a tad stale which was a shame.
I liked Stargate Universe, but I disliked most of the main characters! :-)
I was really impressed by the blonde medical lady. I'll have to look up her back catalogue one day.
The absence of SLABers was most peculiar over the years, I assumed they were too lofty to engage. Now I wonder if it's just symptomatic of apathy that's been critically exposed this time around.
It's been in explicable that we've had none IIRC over all my years here - perhaps its actually endemic entitlement.
Should we be surprised at the death of SLAB? After all I can barely recall ever reading from any SLAB poster here on PB. Whereas we have had several from SNP and a few SCONS. Just an unrepresentative sample but why were SLAB so quiet on here during the lead in to the independence vote?
It's more complicated than apathy.
The problem with SLAB is that the machine has never required "footsoldiers". They don't campaign so they don't need them. They select their candidates from the ranks of the Unions and (much more than in England) the Co-Operative Movement so people didn't need to join the party and campaign on the ground to progress on the path to power and position.
The reality is that they were always an empty shell with numbers padded by Social Clubs and Unions.
The referendum exposed this, hence the bussing of activists from England. And now it's more apparent than ever.
Ironically Labour were (and probably still are) by far the most active political party on University campuses. But their party structure prevents this translating into any useful pool of activists.
I think it is a bit more complicated than this, certainly in my part of the country. My late FiL was a Labour Councillor for many years in Angus and also Tayside Region. At that time a slightly corrupt (well very actually) grouping had control of Dundee but the Labour party in this area was active and large with a lot of patronage.
Things really changed in the Blair years. I vividly remember Union members supposedly campaigning for Labour in 2005 shouting out, "vote Labour, vote for foreign wars." Blair's policies of middle east intervention and poodling with Bush were not particularly popular anywhere but they were poison in Scotland, absolute poison.
They have never recovered despite Scotland backing Brown (presumably on the basis he may be a lunatic but he is our lunatic) in 2010. Behind the headline success the army was falling apart. Iain Gray certainly didn't help but his blundering ineptitude was every bit a symptom as a cause. Labour survived and prospered on not being the Tories for 30 years. Now there is a serious choice of "not Tories" and they have very little else to offer.
I True Detective - until the last show it was stunning. Finale = was lazy - Matthew McCononhey [sp] is so great at laid back Southerner. Fiddling with those lager cans was epic suspense.
I've just bought MASH on DVD - I have to block out a few days to binge it.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
I wonder how much of a handicap Jim Murphy's choice of temporary twitter handle being @JimForScotland instead of @JimForEastRen might have made him come across as arrogant.
Well, more arrogant.
Yeah right - having the right Twitter handle is absolutely critical to electoral success. This is clearly why he is going to lose.
Perhaps, but it looks pretty crass to me. Think about it: (1) he suggests they are voting for him to run the country. They are not. At best he would be SoS for Scotland in a Miliband cabinet. (2) It's meaningless. Is anyone, apart from a very few whom we will disregard, suggesting that he is against Scotland? (3) It suggests he is the whole of Scottish Labour. I suppose that might be theoretically possible following the election if he hangs on to his seat. (4) How many Jims are associated with Scotland? Don't have the data, but I'm guessing quite a few. How many with an artificial LA area like East Renfrewshire? Perhaps not quite as many.
Should really have been 'Labour for Scotland' (that would have been a bit more punchy and long lasting - could have been used next year too) or as Felix suggested, Jim for EastRen. Does at the very least suggest a poor attitude and worse judgement.
The absence of SLABers was most peculiar over the years, I assumed they were too lofty to engage. Now I wonder if it's just symptomatic of apathy that's been critically exposed this time around.
It's been in explicable that we've had none IIRC over all my years here - perhaps its actually endemic entitlement.
Should we be surprised at the death of SLAB? After all I can barely recall ever reading from any SLAB poster here on PB. Whereas we have had several from SNP and a few SCONS. Just an unrepresentative sample but why were SLAB so quiet on here during the lead in to the independence vote?
It's more complicated than apathy.
The problem with SLAB is that the machine has never required "footsoldiers". They don't campaign so they don't need them. They select their candidates from the ranks of the Unions and (much more than in England) the Co-Operative Movement so people didn't need to join the party and campaign on the ground to progress on the path to power and position.
The reality is that they were always an empty shell with numbers padded by Social Clubs and Unions.
The referendum exposed this, hence the bussing of activists from England. And now it's more apparent than ever.
Ironically Labour were (and probably still are) by far the most active political party on University campuses. But their party structure prevents this translating into any useful pool of activists.
There are two further indicators.
I remember reading recently that one party member had commented (not the above person and not on PB) that a lot of Labour activists [edit, in Scotland] had deliberately suppressed new membership. This was to keep the branches limited to the friends and relatives of existing councillors, etc., to prevent any threat to their positions. No idea how true this is but it struck me at the time.
And remember the North British Branch rules (has anyone ever seen a copy?) were suddenly changed to prevent the publication of actual voting numbers for the party element of the leadership vote after Ms Lamont's resignation.
BTW for less than brilliant campaigning can anyone beat Pete Wishart who wrote to the Courier this week complaining that people were planning to vote against him tactically in Perth and North Perthshire and how unfair this all was (thereby publicising the possibility)?
Might make some references to that letter on the doorstep this afternoon.
Not necessarily a numpty at all. If you can show your opponent is the one the Tories are sneakily voting for ...
The Conservative AND UNIONIST party, (almost the reverse actually) is the opposition in this constituency who Labour and Lib Dems are voting for, sneakily or not.
I just never bought into the franchise - I saw StarGate at the pix in the 80s [IIRC] and it's got too many StarTrek refs for me . SG-Atlantis was too silly and not gripping enough. I will try them again, but I did a dozen shows of both and didn't want to continue even under duress.
Some shows just perplex me like Pretty Little Liars - for a teeny higjh school show - it swerves all over the place and gives me a plot headache. I have to catch up = I last saw S4.
Miss Plato, Universe, with RC. That would've been better as a different IP/franchise, though, as it felt too different [to me] to the previous Stargate series.
I felt SG-1 got the perfect blend of humour [often lacking in SFF] and seriousness. And it had perhaps the best balanced 'team' of any TV series.
BTW for less than brilliant campaigning can anyone beat Pete Wishart who wrote to the Courier this week complaining that people were planning to vote against him tactically in Perth and North Perthshire and how unfair this all was (thereby publicising the possibility)?
Might make some references to that letter on the doorstep this afternoon.
Not necessarily a numpty at all. If you can show your opponent is the one the Tories are sneakily voting for ...
The Conservative AND UNIONIST party, (almost the reverse actually) is the opposition in this constituency who Labour and Lib Dems are voting for, sneakily or not.
Ah thanks - been reading about too many LDs lately!
BTW for less than brilliant campaigning can anyone beat Pete Wishart who wrote to the Courier this week complaining that people were planning to vote against him tactically in Perth and North Perthshire and how unfair this all was (thereby publicising the possibility)?
Might make some references to that letter on the doorstep this afternoon.
Not necessarily a numpty at all. If you can show your opponent is the one the Tories are sneakily voting for ...
The Conservative AND UNIONIST party, (almost the reverse actually) is the opposition in this constituency who Labour and Lib Dems are voting for, sneakily or not.
Ah thanks - been reading about too many LDs lately!
No problem. Tories in contention and Scottish seat does not easily compute, especially north of the borders.
Whilst out shopping in the farmers' market (lovely day here) could not resist having fun with the Greens. They seem now to look like former LDs - plenty of beards, sandals and hiking trousers and airy-fairy ideas.
Posed the question to them - how would you get to economic renewable energy by 2050? Received lots of 'stop using oil, gas, nuclear and exploit tidal and wind'. Pointed out that local windfarm visible on the hills is shut due to too much wind today!
They were full of HMG must invest etc but none of them had a coherent investment and technology development plan to 2050 - they said it was in the manfesto but did not have a copy with them.
So am now enjoying (from the farmers' market) home-made scones, fresh butter and blackberry jelly and local Cheddar.
Vancouver is a huge studio lot. Canada is used as the cheaper alt to LA and NY filming. Oregon/Portland are popular supposed locations too.
Canada has done a great job in sucking in studio time. I know several peeps who recce the locations up there and regularly spot the same ones in many shows.
Any Fox or CW show recycles actors like I don't know what. The Canadian shows have a small pool to fish in and I play Where Did I See You Before in almost every one.
I felt StarGate was a bit too silly for me and slow - and I do silly. I liked Stargate with Mr Carlisle. Which one was that?
PS I've got all the ancient Dr Who's recorded via Horror Channel - we're saving Colin ones now.
Bloody weird seeing him as House after George (in Blackadder) though. Almost as disconcerting as having Crichton and Aeryn in the last two series of Stargate: SG-1.
I like the way the Stargate team cast actors from other sci-fi series. I think it's clever marketing, and I like seeing the actors again.
It would be better still if they kept their original characters too. Aeryn Sun was a much better character than the Stargate one.
Stargate Universe? That's the one that killed off the franchise sadly.
SG1 was one of my favourite series of all time. Though it should have ended at the end of season 8 (before the 2 Farscape characters joined). Season 8's finale finished off the overarching storyline the show had always been about, season's 9&10 dragged it out too far making it feel a tad stale which was a shame.
From what I heard what became SG-1 seasons 9-10 was supposed to be a retool of the show named Stargate Command instead, with all new characters, but I guess the producers got cold feet, and as you say had to carry on after what was unmistakably the big send off.
I did love how Stargate had actual serving senior military officials cameo on a few occasions. I guess they liked the idea of the US Airforce professionally becoming the secret defenders of 2 entire galaxies in the span of 10 years.
On the subject of sci-fi actors cycling between shows, I think part of that is down to where they are filmed - it feels like a lot of sci-fi gets filmed up around Vancouver, and you start to recognise many of the faces.
Miss Plato, Atlantis cocked up the party balance. Shepherd[sp] was the leader, but McKay was the sarky sod, the 'everyman', the historian and the scientist. Taylor[sp] and Ronon[sp] could've been fleshed out a lot more [Ford is arguably the most boring character I've ever encountered] but, ultimately, both were 'the muscle' (and without Teal'c's interesting backstory).
I True Detective - until the last show it was stunning. Finale = was lazy - Matthew McCononhey [sp] is so great at laid back Southerner. Fiddling with those lager cans was epic suspense.
I've just bought MASH on DVD - I have to block out a few days to binge it.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Miss Plato, Atlantis cocked up the party balance. Shepherd[sp] was the leader, but McKay was the sarky sod, the 'everyman', the historian and the scientist. Taylor[sp] and Ronon[sp] could've been fleshed out a lot more [Ford is arguably the most boring character I've ever encountered] but, ultimately, both were 'the muscle' (and without Teal'c's interesting backstory).
One thing I've found odd about the debates is how keen the various candidates are to stress their desire to splurge borrowed money. The programme doesn't seem to matter, just spending _more_.
Between 2010 and 2013 the networks killed a huge number of shows that they shouldn't have killed as they were completely unable to understand the shift to digital viewing and the effect this was having on their numbers.
It's hard to know for sure (especially as Wiki doesn't have the ratings for this) whether or not that was the case here.
I just never bought into the franchise - I saw StarGate at the pix in the 80s [IIRC] and it's got too many StarTrek refs for me . SG-Atlantis was too silly and not gripping enough. I will try them again, but I did a dozen shows of both and didn't want to continue even under duress.
Some shows just perplex me like Pretty Little Liars - for a teeny higjh school show - it swerves all over the place and gives me a plot headache. I have to catch up = I last saw S4.
Miss Plato, Universe, with RC. That would've been better as a different IP/franchise, though, as it felt too different [to me] to the previous Stargate series.
I felt SG-1 got the perfect blend of humour [often lacking in SFF] and seriousness. And it had perhaps the best balanced 'team' of any TV series.
Pretty Little Liars is insane - every now and then I check out an episode just to see what's going on - and is so absurd it feels practically sci-fi itself (I think it had an unsuccessful spin off that was going to be flat out have sci-fi elements).
SG-1 was much more grounded than its story might suggest, I never got a Star Trek vibe from it. It was much more militaristic sci-fi than that.
Checked out Daredevil recently. It was very disappointing. Great acting, great stunts, but the plot and characterisation was weak as hell. Deliberately grim, which is fine, so no campy fun, but also no investment in anything due to the characters being so stock, which is a problem if you are going for grim - you don't need to root for characters or the world, but you need to be interested in seeing what happens to them. I doubt I'll watch it again.
The clear conclusion that has come through from this GE campaign is that Ed Miliband will not have a majority Government. The SNP have killed that off. If as seems likely SLAB are reduced to 6 or less, Ed Miliband will need 103+ net gains outside of Scotland, which is a very remote possibility. If the LDs are reduced to circa 25, then Miliband needs 78+ net gains to form that coalition, again something that looks to be remote. The other minor parties may reduce that to around a need for 70 gains but it looks a step too far. Therefore it really comes down to 3 outcomes:- 1. Miliband +SNP support 2. Cameron majority 3. Cameron + LD support.
I don't get this - I mean, on current polling I get why you rule out Lab maj but why is Con maj still in the list? On current polling, this is nowhere near. If the national picture moves a lot, which it probably won't, you could see Con maj or 103+ Lab gains.
The last ICM would not need much movement combined with a near death of SLAB to produce that option. ICM used to be regarded as the gold standard on this website......
The near death of SLAB at the hands of the SNP has almost no effect on the likelihood of Con Maj.
If we were seeing a lot of ICMs at that end of the scale then what you're saying would make sense, but we've only seen that single poll from anyone, and even if that was right it's not clear that it would be enough.
I'm not saying Con maj is impossibly unlikely, but it's at least as far from where available evidence is pointing as Lab maj.St.
ICM is within striking distance of a Con maj, I don't see (post-Scotland) any polls which reasonably point to a Lab maj being possible.
We seem dead set on a hung parliament either way.
According to John Curtice LAB needs a 5% vote lead for a majority while the Tories need one of 7-11% depending on their success in winning LD seats.
I think the thresholds are beyond the reach of both parties though the mood could harden up in favour of certainty in the next two and a half weeks.
I'm told there will be weekly ICM polls for the Guardian until the election.
I've just bought MASH on DVD - I have to block out a few days to binge it.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
I wonder how much of a handicap Jim Murphy's choice of temporary twitter handle being @JimForScotland instead of @JimForEastRen might have made him come across as arrogant.
Well, more arrogant.
Yeah right - having the right Twitter handle is absolutely critical to electoral success. This is clearly why he is going to lose.
Perhaps, but it looks pretty crass to me. Think about it: (1) he suggests they are voting for him to run the country. They are not. At best he would be SoS for Scotland in a Miliband cabinet. (2) It's meaningless. Is anyone, apart from a very few whom we will disregard, suggesting that he is against Scotland? (3) It suggests he is the whole of Scottish Labour. I suppose that might be theoretically possible following the election if he hangs on to his seat. (4) How many Jims are associated with Scotland? Don't have the data, but I'm guessing quite a few. How many with an artificial LA area like East Renfrewshire? Perhaps not quite as many.
Should really have been 'Labour for Scotland' (that would have been a bit more punchy and long lasting - could have been used next year too) or as Felix suggested, Jim for EastRen. Does at the very least suggest a poor attitude and worse judgement.
Just to be clear I was being ironic. If Murphy's only problem was his Twitter handle he'd be home and dry.
Miss Plato, Atlantis cocked up the party balance. Shepherd[sp] was the leader, but McKay was the sarky sod, the 'everyman', the historian and the scientist. Taylor[sp] and Ronon[sp] could've been fleshed out a lot more [Ford is arguably the most boring character I've ever encountered] but, ultimately, both were 'the muscle' (and without Teal'c's interesting backstory).
I'd definitely suggest giving SG-1 another go.
Well said. Shepherd played O'Neill's role as leader well but that was as good as it got.
In SG1 before the spin-off McKay was introduced as an antagonist to Carter and quite like an obnoxious version of her character. However in SGA McKay seemed to become both Carter and Jackson, which didn't sit right. Taylor and Ronon (sp's) were a pale imitation of Teal'c I agree.
The clear conclusion that has come through from this GE campaign is that Ed Miliband will not have a majority Government. The SNP have killed that off. If as seems likely SLAB are reduced to 6 or less, Ed Miliband will need 103+ net gains outside of Scotland, which is a very remote possibility. If the LDs are reduced to circa 25, then Miliband needs 78+ net gains to form that coalition, again something that looks to be remote. The other minor parties may reduce that to around a need for 70 gains but it looks a step too far. Therefore it really comes down to 3 outcomes:- 1. Miliband +SNP support 2. Cameron majority 3. Cameron + LD support.
I don't get this - I mean, on current polling I get why you rule out Lab maj but why is Con maj still in the list? On current polling, this is nowhere near. If the national picture moves a lot, which it probably won't, you could see Con maj or 103+ Lab gains.
The last ICM would not need much movement combined with a near death of SLAB to produce that option. ICM used to be regarded as the gold standard on this website......
The near death of SLAB at the hands of the SNP has almost no effect on the likelihood of Con Maj.
If we were seeing a lot of ICMs at that end of the scale then what you're saying would make sense, but we've only seen that single poll from anyone, and even if that was right it's not clear that it would be enough.
I'm not saying Con maj is impossibly unlikely, but it's at least as far from where available evidence is pointing as Lab maj.St.
ICM is within striking distance of a Con maj, I don't see (post-Scotland) any polls which reasonably point to a Lab maj being possible.
We seem dead set on a hung parliament either way.
According to John Curtice LAB needs a 5% vote lead for a majority while the Tories need one of 7-11% depending on their success in winning LD seats.
I think the thresholds are beyond the reach of both parties though the mood could harden up in favour of certainty in the next two and a half weeks.
I'm told there will be weekly ICM polls for the Guardian until the election.
I think the moves to certainty will cancel each other out
Miss Plato, Atlantis cocked up the party balance. Shepherd[sp] was the leader, but McKay was the sarky sod, the 'everyman', the historian and the scientist. Taylor[sp] and Ronon[sp] could've been fleshed out a lot more [Ford is arguably the most boring character I've ever encountered] but, ultimately, both were 'the muscle' (and without Teal'c's interesting backstory).
Oh, I liked DareDevil - I felt it was more uppy than Arrow which I've given in on - Stephen Amell is very good at the main character, but it's all so angsty and grim. It's like EastEnders with MMA. I don't like any of the characters bar Felicity Smoak and she's appearing in The Flash. Her character nailed the difference in this week's show when she said Central City was meant to be fun.
I much prefer The Flash. I hear Agent Carter will be dumped despite better critical ratings in favour of an Agents of SHEILD spin off that's cheaper [non-period]. A great shame IMO as it was a whole different MARVEL genre.
I just never bought into the franchise - I saw StarGate at the pix in the 80s [IIRC] and it's got too many StarTrek refs for me . SG-Atlantis was too silly and not gripping enough. I will try them again, but I did a dozen shows of both and didn't want to continue even under duress.
Some shows just perplex me like Pretty Little Liars - for a teeny higjh school show - it swerves all over the place and gives me a plot headache. I have to catch up = I last saw S4.
Miss Plato, Universe, with RC. That would've been better as a different IP/franchise, though, as it felt too different [to me] to the previous Stargate series.
I felt SG-1 got the perfect blend of humour [often lacking in SFF] and seriousness. And it had perhaps the best balanced 'team' of any TV series.
Pretty Little Liars is insane - every now and then I check out an episode just to see what's going on - and is so absurd it feels practically sci-fi itself (I think it had an unsuccessful spin off that was going to be flat out have sci-fi elements).
SG-1 was much more grounded than its story might suggest, I never got a Star Trek vibe from it. It was much more militaristic sci-fi than that.
Checked out Daredevil recently. It was very disappointing. Great acting, great stunts, but the plot and characterisation was weak as hell. Deliberately grim, which is fine, so no campy fun, but also no investment in anything due to the characters being so stock, which is a problem if you are going for grim - you don't need to root for characters or the world, but you need to be interested in seeing what happens to them. I doubt I'll watch it again.
I've just bought MASH on DVD - I have to block out a few days to binge it.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
I have posted this before, but I think they're making a new Farscape film. If it does well, a new series could be in the offing.
I won't get my hopes up. The quirky nature of Farscape probably won't fit well in today's environment, so even if it got picked up it'd probably not have the right sort of feel. I loved that show. Anyone who says you cannot get emotionally invested in a old racist muppet has never seen it (and if they hadn't seen it already, I doubt my somewhat misleading description of it thus would be convinced otherwise).
Back to politics, I think I may have figured out how I am going to vote - If someone actually knocks on my door while I am in, in what is a safe seat, I will vote for their party. At present have received nothing from the Greens or Con, the eventual winners, so neither is deserving of consideration yet.
I think I may have figured out how I am going to vote - If someone actually knocks on my door while I am in, in what is a safe seat, I will vote for their party. At present have received nothing from the Greens or Con, the eventual winners, so neither is deserving of consideration yet.
Kle4, I wish you luck. But in a crucial swing marginal, I have had one visit in total (and I was on holiday when they turned up) so your chances seem pretty poor.
If you don't mind my asking, what will you do if nobody knocks? Spoil the paper?
By the way, my visit was from Labour, and they have sent two mailshots as well as a load of activist literature. They're throwing a lot at Cannock Chase, which suggests to me that they are nervous about their chances.
I think the moves to certainty will cancel each other out
I'm curious where a move to certainty will come from, or go to.
The Lib Dems surely can't drop much lower? UKIP have been dropping for a while but I give them a hardcore base of 5% from last time (last time's UKIP&BNP votes combined) and will clearly be higher this time - I think they're getting close to their floor for this time. An SNP collapse seems implausible. The Green's don't seem to want certainty.
So where is a move due to come from? And where could it go?
My other half went downstairs to find that the block had been issued with some UKIP campaign literature. There are nine adults in the block: one gay couple, one couple both of whom are ineligible to vote, a banker, a life coach, two middle-aged hippie vegans and a Shoreditch rock kid.
Whilst out shopping in the farmers' market (lovely day here) could not resist having fun with the Greens. They seem now to look like former LDs - plenty of beards, sandals and hiking trousers and airy-fairy ideas.
Posed the question to them - how would you get to economic renewable energy by 2050? Received lots of 'stop using oil, gas, nuclear and exploit tidal and wind'. Pointed out that local windfarm visible on the hills is shut due to too much wind today!
They were full of HMG must invest etc but none of them had a coherent investment and technology development plan to 2050 - they said it was in the manfesto but did not have a copy with them.
So am now enjoying (from the farmers' market) home-made scones, fresh butter and blackberry jelly and local Cheddar.
Do you genuinely believe that is a reasonable question to even ask an average party activist? It is not a simple answer, although it is certainly possible and achievable.
But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle - that they wish to convert completely from carbon sources to renewable and perhaps indicate a cost, then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Did anyone watch The Tunnel?
Between the Lines series1 starts on the Drama Channel at 10pm Monday
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
Whilst out shopping in the farmers' market (lovely day here) could not resist having fun with the Greens. They seem now to look like former LDs - plenty of beards, sandals and hiking trousers and airy-fairy ideas.
Posed the question to them - how would you get to economic renewable energy by 2050? Received lots of 'stop using oil, gas, nuclear and exploit tidal and wind'. Pointed out that local windfarm visible on the hills is shut due to too much wind today!
They were full of HMG must invest etc but none of them had a coherent investment and technology development plan to 2050 - they said it was in the manfesto but did not have a copy with them.
So am now enjoying (from the farmers' market) home-made scones, fresh butter and blackberry jelly and local Cheddar.
Do you genuinely believe that is a reasonable question to even ask an average party activist? It is not a simple answer, although it is certainly possible and achievable.
But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle - that they wish to convert completely from carbon sources to renewable and perhaps indicate a cost, then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
Yes I do. An activist should at least have a clue that their policies might work because of a vague reason rather than just pie in the sky.
Oh, I liked DareDevil - I felt it was more uppy than Arrow which I've given in on - Stephen Amell is very good at the main character, but it's all so angsty and grim...I much prefer The Flash. I hear Agent Carter will be dumped despite better critical ratings in favour of an Agents of SHEILD spin off that's cheaper [non-period]. A great shame IMO as it was a whole different MARVEL genre.
A shame, Agent Carter was immediately more appealing to me because of the setting (if they'd tone down that goddamn period jazz music they did too much). Given how much money they are making they could afford to give a show struggling in the ratings several seasons to find its feet, but not surprising.
Yeah, Arrow is still good I feel, but it lost me a bit with how the Slade arc went down last season (went down poorly with the actor too, I read), and its felt a bit weaker this year. The Flash I am surprised has gone so heavily into the goofier elements so fast (pun intended), but fair play to it. I still have trouble accepting The Flash could be challenged by so many villains given his powers, but that's my suspension of disbelief failing.
Daredevil's problem really was just the characters if I'm honest. A waste of some great acting all round. Fisk seemed interesting, but by the end of it seemed a cliched, ranting fool. Heartily disappointing. Oh well, they cannot all be hits with everyone.
According to John Curtice LAB needs a 5% vote lead for a majority while the Tories need one of 7-11% depending on their success in winning LD seats.
I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Do you genuinely believe that is a reasonable question to even ask an average party activist? It is not a simple answer, although it is certainly possible and achievable. But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle... then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
Dair, I'm not an activist nor a member of any party but I do not think it by any means unreasonable that activists out on campaign should (a) know what's in their manifesto in a fair amount of detail (b) have a copy of it with them. After all, they are there to persuade people to vote for their party, so they should be able to explain what their party is offering and why it is the right choice.
Financier may have been just teasing them a bit, but if I went up to somebody genuinely wanting to know more and got that kind of response, my parting shot would be, 'Well if that's the best you can do, why the [expletive redacted] are you here then? What's the point?' and stalk off muttering about voting for someone else.
Vancouver is a huge studio lot. Canada is used as the cheaper alt to LA and NY filming. Oregon/Portland are popular supposed locations too.
Canada has done a great job in sucking in studio time. I know several peeps who recce the locations up there and regularly spot the same ones in many shows.
The saturation is becoming a problem for Vancouver, I realised this when the Trickster's parachute bombs were falling at the start of Episode 17 of The Flash and realised it was the sample place where the robots from the future/past/alternate appeared at the end of Season 3 of Continuum.
Although I do like the way the writers of Arrow/The Flash kind of highlighted the way Star City is Vancouver at night and Central City is Vancouver when it's sunny during the cross-over episodes. Great writing.
Actually, the fan service in The Flash is absolutely beyond anything I've seen before and never seems forced. The last two episodes have been particularly wonderful.
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Did anyone watch The Tunnel?
Between the Lines series1 starts on the Drama Channel at 10pm Monday
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
Been watching Between The Lines from the 90s about police corruption with Neil Pearson - it really is excellent. Siobhan Redmond is super too.imdb.com/title/tt0103362/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Did anyone watch The Tunnel?
Between the Lines series1 starts on the Drama Channel at 10pm Monday
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
I didn't know The Tunnel is coming back, very pleased to hear that, thanks.
I think I may have figured out how I am going to vote - If someone actually knocks on my door while I am in, in what is a safe seat, I will vote for their party. At present have received nothing from the Greens or Con, the eventual winners, so neither is deserving of consideration yet.
Kle4, I wish you luck. But in a crucial swing marginal, I have had one visit in total (and I was on holiday when they turned up) so your chances seem pretty poor.
If you don't mind my asking, what will you do if nobody knocks? Spoil the paper? .
If I get a leaflet from them at least maybe I'll vote Green. Their manifesto was mostly nonsense, but it could be amusing to see how high a vote share they could get (at the moment they look like they won't be much above their national share from last time). UKIP don't need my vote for that, they are doing ok. Or maybe a pity vote for the LDs.
Vancouver is a huge studio lot. Canada is used as the cheaper alt to LA and NY filming. Oregon/Portland are popular supposed locations too.
Canada has done a great job in sucking in studio time. I know several peeps who recce the locations up there and regularly spot the same ones in many shows.
The saturation is becoming a problem for Vancouver, I realised this when the Trickster's parachute bombs were falling at the start of Episode 17 of The Flash and realised it was the sample place where the robots from the future/past/alternate appeared at the end of Season 3 of Continuum.
Ha. I feel like I've attended the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in person for the same reason - look at google image search for it, then try to remember everything you've seen it in. The hall itself, the outside, the mustard yellow carpeted hallway
Mr. Dave, it's faintly ridiculous. I can't make much progress because I've been beta-reading novel length works for a while [on my third consecutive one now], and I'm trying to crack on with a first draft of one novel and redrafting another.
Ther Tunnel which is available as a box set on SKY waS A French/English drama based on the bridge when the two police forces come together to catch a guy - very violent and gory in places but well worth a watch
Mr. Dave, it's faintly ridiculous. I can't make much progress because I've been beta-reading novel length works for a while [on my third consecutive one now], and I'm trying to crack on with a first draft of one novel and redrafting another.
I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Not necessarily. There is a line between allowing a Tory government and actually supplying the votes for a Labour government.
If we end in the situation of Tories most seats and an English majority, Labour underpinned by SNP and PC then each vote will be difficult.
If there's a controversial English-only law Ed wants to pass then the SNP/PC can threaten to abstain, allowing the Tories to vote it down. Ed will vote after vote have to offer more and more sweeties to the SNP/PC to get them to actually show up at the lobbies, or lose one vote after another.
So long as its not a Vote of No Confidence, the SNP/PC are free to abstain and keep their promises not to let the Tories in. SNP continue to reign supreme in Scotland, Ed is in office but not in power, English voters are furious and the union is increasingly in peril. Seems like a sweet deal for the SNP to me.
Why should SNP MPs cut off their own nose and trudge through the lobbies like Ed's whipped lapdogs unless they want to?
I The Flash - it's just got that light hearted, quirky plotting and engaging main character mix that works. I like them all. I root for them.
I couldn't give a toss about anyone bar Agent Coulson in SHIELD.
And Smoak and Diggle in Arrow. The rest are just too self absorbed or boring.
Agent Carter was such a change of range for MARVEL. I felt it was self-closing as a plot line that not renewing it wouldn't hurt - but I think it's a mistake franchise wise.
DareDevil appealed to me - I liked that the ident of the character became known, and it was much more challenging to his friends.
TBH, I didn't get how The Flash or DareDevil could be extended TV characters - now I do. I feel I was narrow-minded until now.
The Flash in Smallville was crap in comparison and I Smallville.
Vancouver is a huge studio lot. Canada is used as the cheaper alt to LA and NY filming. Oregon/Portland are popular supposed locations too.
Canada has done a great job in sucking in studio time. I know several peeps who recce the locations up there and regularly spot the same ones in many shows.
The saturation is becoming a problem for Vancouver, I realised this when the Trickster's parachute bombs were falling at the start of Episode 17 of The Flash and realised it was the sample place where the robots from the future/past/alternate appeared at the end of Season 3 of Continuum.
Although I do like the way the writers of Arrow/The Flash kind of highlighted the way Star City is Vancouver at night and Central City is Vancouver when it's sunny during the cross-over episodes. Great writing.
Actually, the fan service in The Flash is absolutely beyond anything I've seen before and never seems forced. The last two episodes have been particularly wonderful.
Do you genuinely believe that is a reasonable question to even ask an average party activist? It is not a simple answer, although it is certainly possible and achievable. But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle... then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
Dair, I'm not an activist nor a member of any party but I do not think it by any means unreasonable that activists out on campaign should (a) know what's in their manifesto in a fair amount of detail (b) have a copy of it with them. After all, they are there to persuade people to vote for their party, so they should be able to explain what their party is offering and why it is the right choice.
Financier may have been just teasing them a bit, but if I went up to somebody genuinely wanting to know more and got that kind of response, my parting shot would be, 'Well if that's the best you can do, why the [expletive redacted] are you here then? What's the point?' and stalk off muttering about voting for someone else.
Feel free to disagree with me.
I'm inclined to agree. I'd accept the few its a lot to expect someone to know everything that might be in there, especially as few people will ever ask them about it, and certainly in the few days after the things are launched people need time to absorb it, but as you say, they are there to persuade people. Platitudes around general principles is fine, but all sides claim that the other side won't be specific about things and they will, they are offering hard solutions and policies, and if you are doing something as active as knocking on doors or stopping people in the street, you should be more clued up than the average support happy to go with their gut because they like the principles. People can reasonably expect you are more involved with the party, more invested, and should be able to answer in some fashion a more detailed query on the rare occasions they cropped up.
I sometimes engage in conversation with proselytizers on the same basis - I don't want to waste their time either by giving the impression I might convert on the spot, but how they respond to some questions or a bit of challenge shows how much effort they are putting into it
I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Not necessarily. There is a line between allowing a Tory government and actually supplying the votes for a Labour government.
If we end in the situation of Tories most seats and an English majority, Labour underpinned by SNP and PC then each vote will be difficult.
If there's a controversial English-only law Ed wants to pass then the SNP/PC can threaten to abstain, allowing the Tories to vote it down. Ed will vote after vote have to offer more and more sweeties to the SNP/PC to get them to actually show up at the lobbies, or lose one vote after another.
So long as its not a Vote of No Confidence, the SNP/PC are free to abstain and keep their promises not to let the Tories in. SNP continue to reign supreme in Scotland, Ed is in office but not in power, English voters are furious and the union is increasingly in peril. Seems like a sweet deal for the SNP to me.
Why should SNP MPs cut off their own nose and trudge through the lobbies like Ed's whipped lapdogs unless they want to?
People still aren't getting the FTPA.
SNP/PC can still abstain or vote against a Budget, Queens Speech or Vote of No Confidence in Labour and it doesn't trigger an election or let the Tories in. It gives Labour two weeks to decide whether they renegotiate with SNP/PC or pact with the Tories to abstain a Tory Queens Speech and let David Cameron in. SNP/PC are immune from "letting the Tories in" as long as they would vote against a Tory Queens Speech.
Of course Labour could just fold and refuse either, triggering an election after the two weeks. But they would have to both have the money to contest one AND not expect to be punished by their own Core Voters to failing to accept the SNP/PC nudge to the left.
I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Not necessarily. There is a line between allowing a Tory government and actually supplying the votes for a Labour government.
If we end in the situation of Tories most seats and an English majority, Labour underpinned by SNP and PC then each vote will be difficult.
It will. It will be hell and, as you say, great for the SNP. They can force Ed to do things if he wants to pass things even if PC and the Greens cannot (unless the SNP agrees to help them, which should not normally be a problem but it could happen), they have committed to not letting him fall in a no-confidence situation, and Ed only needs to worry about the SNP for actually doing things.
But as hellish as it will be, especially compared to the relative harmony of this coalition, I think people underestimate how badly Lab in particular want to be in power and so will be willing to compromise on things to get the SNP votes, and the SNP seem canny enough to, for the most part, not overplay it.
I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Not necessarily. There is a line between allowing a Tory government and actually supplying the votes for a Labour government.
If we end in the situation of Tories most seats and an English majority, Labour underpinned by SNP and PC then each vote will be difficult.
If there's a controversial English-only law Ed wants to pass then the SNP/PC can threaten to abstain, allowing the Tories to vote it down. Ed will vote after vote have to offer more and more sweeties to the SNP/PC to get them to actually show up at the lobbies, or lose one vote after another.
So long as its not a Vote of No Confidence, the SNP/PC are free to abstain and keep their promises not to let the Tories in. SNP continue to reign supreme in Scotland, Ed is in office but not in power, English voters are furious and the union is increasingly in peril. Seems like a sweet deal for the SNP to me.
Why should SNP MPs cut off their own nose and trudge through the lobbies like Ed's whipped lapdogs unless they want to?
An opposition or private members bill on EVFEL would be very interesting in your scenario. Would the Nationslists vote against National autonomy for the English? How many Labour in England would either vote with the Conservatives or abstain.
The stress on a Lab/SNP govt would either tear the govt apart or neuter the Nats.
Having to skip posts about Daredevil, it might be an idea to wait to discuss binge dumped shows for a few weeks after the dump. Please.
Not what I meant.
I have it ready to watch and have watched the first two episodes. But it's only been out a week and time is limited to binge through it. Maybe tomorrow.
Having to skip posts about Daredevil, it might be an idea to wait to discuss binge dumped shows for a few weeks after the dump. Please.
Not what I meant.
I have it ready to watch and have watched the first two episodes. But it's only been out a week and time is limited to binge through it. Maybe tomorrow.
An opposition or private members bill on EVFEL would be very interesting in your scenario. Would the Nationslists vote against National autonomy for the English? How many Labour in England would either vote with the Conservatives or abstain.
The stress on a Lab/SNP govt would either tear the govt apart or neuter the Nats.
While Labour carry 26 out of 40 seats in Wales (and probably 28-30 after the election, the party will not vote for EV4EL. If it is almost impossible for them to get a majority without Scotland, without Wales they are out of majority government forever.
An opposition or private members bill on EVFEL would be very interesting in your scenario. Would the Nationslists vote against National autonomy for the English? How many Labour in England would either vote with the Conservatives or abstain.
The stress on a Lab/SNP govt would either tear the govt apart or neuter the Nats.
While Labour carry 26 out of 40 seats in Wales (and probably 28-30 after the election, the party will not vote for EV4EL. If it is almost impossible for them to get a majority without Scotland, without Wales they are out of majority government forever.
That's one of the most interesting observations I have read this month.
Whilst out shopping in the farmers' market (lovely day here) could not resist having fun with the Greens. They seem now to look like former LDs - plenty of beards, sandals and hiking trousers and airy-fairy ideas.
Posed the question to them - how would you get to economic renewable energy by 2050? Received lots of 'stop using oil, gas, nuclear and exploit tidal and wind'. Pointed out that local windfarm visible on the hills is shut due to too much wind today!
They were full of HMG must invest etc but none of them had a coherent investment and technology development plan to 2050 - they said it was in the manfesto but did not have a copy with them.
So am now enjoying (from the farmers' market) home-made scones, fresh butter and blackberry jelly and local Cheddar.
Do you genuinely believe that is a reasonable question to even ask an average party activist? It is not a simple answer, although it is certainly possible and achievable.
But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle - that they wish to convert completely from carbon sources to renewable and perhaps indicate a cost, then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
Yes, perfectly reasonable as even the candidate could not answer my question. None of them had done their homework in a coastal seat where many wind farms have been very controversial and have caused a lot of public upset over access damage and even turbines coming to bits in a gale, as well as the noise caused by them.
The discussion lasted well over 30 minutes and we gathered a crowd of about 50.who became quite vocal. In such a constituency to offer platitudes and slogans without having any factual support was ill-prepared to say the least and as one onlooker told them - insulted his intelligence.
Having to skip posts about Daredevil, it might be an idea to wait to discuss binge dumped shows for a few weeks after the dump. Please.
Not what I meant.
I have it ready to watch and have watched the first two episodes. But it's only been out a week and time is limited to binge through it. Maybe tomorrow.
I found Saul excellent, didn't get the criticisms it was slow but certainly I've seen that expressed a lot.
The pacing seemed just right for that show just as the constant bat shit crazy pacing works so well for Reign. Depends how its written and how it comes together.
Ther Tunnel which is available as a box set on SKY waS A French/English drama based on the bridge when the two police forces come together to catch a guy - very violent and gory in places but well worth a watch
Yes, perfectly reasonable as even the candidate could not answer my question. None of them had done their homework in a coastal seat where many wind farms have been very controversial and have caused a lot of public upset over access damage and even turbines coming to bits in a gale, as well as the noise caused by them.
Comments
Hmm, he's made a career of being himself - and a MSM pron film where he's meant to be a pron star = Magic Mike
imdb.com/name/nm0000190/?ref_=nv_sr_1
I did love how Stargate had actual serving senior military officials cameo on a few occasions. I guess they liked the idea of the US Airforce professionally becoming the secret defenders of 2 entire galaxies in the span of 10 years.
On the subject of sci-fi actors cycling between shows, I think part of that is down to where they are filmed - it feels like a lot of sci-fi gets filmed up around Vancouver, and you start to recognise many of the faces.
There tends to be an imbalance in the male:female vote shares for UKIP in polls. Perhaps that is illusionary?
I like him, my Dad is a teacher in the borough and he likes him (though is voting UKIP in Hx and Upm) and putting it crudely, dont think the racial mix in Dagenham and Rainham now is conducive to a UKIP win anyway... strong second IMO, although YOuGOv nowcast has it TCTC
My Mum is steadfast in her support of Labour as she hates Tories.. trying to get her to vote UKIP tactically to keep them out in H&U
Those main cast actors bring sci-fi fans from their previous roles with them to the new sci-fi project.
I was really impressed by the blonde medical lady. I'll have to look up her back catalogue one day.
https://soundcloud.com/politicalstudiesassociation/dr-david-cutts-on-the-liberal-democrats-psa-media-briefing-1
Things really changed in the Blair years. I vividly remember Union members supposedly campaigning for Labour in 2005 shouting out, "vote Labour, vote for foreign wars." Blair's policies of middle east intervention and poodling with Bush were not particularly popular anywhere but they were poison in Scotland, absolute poison.
They have never recovered despite Scotland backing Brown (presumably on the basis he may be a lunatic but he is our lunatic) in 2010. Behind the headline success the army was falling apart. Iain Gray certainly didn't help but his blundering ineptitude was every bit a symptom as a cause. Labour survived and prospered on not being the Tories for 30 years. Now there is a serious choice of "not Tories" and they have very little else to offer.
Should really have been 'Labour for Scotland' (that would have been a bit more punchy and long lasting - could have been used next year too) or as Felix suggested, Jim for EastRen. Does at the very least suggest a poor attitude and worse judgement.
I remember reading recently that one party member had commented (not the above person and not on PB) that a lot of Labour activists [edit, in Scotland] had deliberately suppressed new membership. This was to keep the branches limited to the friends and relatives of existing councillors, etc., to prevent any threat to their positions. No idea how true this is but it struck me at the time.
And remember the North British Branch rules (has anyone ever seen a copy?) were suddenly changed to prevent the publication of actual voting numbers for the party element of the leadership vote after Ms Lamont's resignation.
Some shows just perplex me like Pretty Little Liars - for a teeny higjh school show - it swerves all over the place and gives me a plot headache. I have to catch up = I last saw S4.
Posed the question to them - how would you get to economic renewable energy by 2050? Received lots of 'stop using oil, gas, nuclear and exploit tidal and wind'. Pointed out that local windfarm visible on the hills is shut due to too much wind today!
They were full of HMG must invest etc but none of them had a coherent investment and technology development plan to 2050 - they said it was in the manfesto but did not have a copy with them.
So am now enjoying (from the farmers' market) home-made scones, fresh butter and blackberry jelly and local Cheddar.
Canada has done a great job in sucking in studio time. I know several peeps who recce the locations up there and regularly spot the same ones in many shows.
I'd definitely suggest giving SG-1 another go.
As you can see, I really didn't buy into this show at all despite trying.
It's hard to know for sure (especially as Wiki doesn't have the ratings for this) whether or not that was the case here.
Yet to see a single poster, but canvassed this morning for the first time ever.
I was out.
SG-1 was much more grounded than its story might suggest, I never got a Star Trek vibe from it. It was much more militaristic sci-fi than that.
Checked out Daredevil recently. It was very disappointing. Great acting, great stunts, but the plot and characterisation was weak as hell. Deliberately grim, which is fine, so no campy fun, but also no investment in anything due to the characters being so stock, which is a problem if you are going for grim - you don't need to root for characters or the world, but you need to be interested in seeing what happens to them. I doubt I'll watch it again.
I think the thresholds are beyond the reach of both parties though the mood could harden up in favour of certainty in the next two and a half weeks.
I'm told there will be weekly ICM polls for the Guardian until the election.
Makes me laugh when people say all Sky have is the sports channels, some excellent drama on their.
Did anyone watch The Tunnel?
Infact under labour ,immigration WILL increase.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32359928
In SG1 before the spin-off McKay was introduced as an antagonist to Carter and quite like an obnoxious version of her character. However in SGA McKay seemed to become both Carter and Jackson, which didn't sit right. Taylor and Ronon (sp's) were a pale imitation of Teal'c I agree.
It does seem symptomatic of his wider issues though...
I much prefer The Flash. I hear Agent Carter will be dumped despite better critical ratings in favour of an Agents of SHEILD spin off that's cheaper [non-period]. A great shame IMO as it was a whole different MARVEL genre.
Mr. Thompson, they should've made Teal'c PI instead of Universe.
Miss Plato, can't seem to recall a blonde lady in a red dress...
Edited extra bit: and P3 starts in a few minutes. Toying with an odd bet for the race. In the pre-qualifying article.
Back to politics, I think I may have figured out how I am going to vote - If someone actually knocks on my door while I am in, in what is a safe seat, I will vote for their party. At present have received nothing from the Greens or Con, the eventual winners, so neither is deserving of consideration yet.
If you don't mind my asking, what will you do if nobody knocks? Spoil the paper?
By the way, my visit was from Labour, and they have sent two mailshots as well as a load of activist literature. They're throwing a lot at Cannock Chase, which suggests to me that they are nervous about their chances.
#Alzheimers
Miss Plato, ah, you're thinking of another show.
The Lib Dems surely can't drop much lower?
UKIP have been dropping for a while but I give them a hardcore base of 5% from last time (last time's UKIP&BNP votes combined) and will clearly be higher this time - I think they're getting close to their floor for this time.
An SNP collapse seems implausible.
The Green's don't seem to want certainty.
So where is a move due to come from? And where could it go?
His original bet at 11, could be worth 15 if he matches it at 19.
My other half went downstairs to find that the block had been issued with some UKIP campaign literature. There are nine adults in the block: one gay couple, one couple both of whom are ineligible to vote, a banker, a life coach, two middle-aged hippie vegans and a Shoreditch rock kid.
You have to give them marks for trying.
But surely a party activist should only be expected to express the principle - that they wish to convert completely from carbon sources to renewable and perhaps indicate a cost, then, if you genuinely wanted more direct you to their website. More than that is pretty unfair to expect.
http://www.vintage-books.co.uk/books/0099287293/colin-thubron/emperor/
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
Yeah, Arrow is still good I feel, but it lost me a bit with how the Slade arc went down last season (went down poorly with the actor too, I read), and its felt a bit weaker this year. The Flash I am surprised has gone so heavily into the goofier elements so fast (pun intended), but fair play to it. I still have trouble accepting The Flash could be challenged by so many villains given his powers, but that's my suspension of disbelief failing.
Daredevil's problem really was just the characters if I'm honest. A waste of some great acting all round. Fisk seemed interesting, but by the end of it seemed a cliched, ranting fool. Heartily disappointing. Oh well, they cannot all be hits with everyone. I'm surprised Lab needs such a high lead for a majority, but I guess that's the impact of Scotland. But as has been pointed out many times, although they don't want to win that way, any SNP seats will transfer directly to making Ed PM anyway, so they're not real losses, even though they would limit what he could actually pass (PC and Greens meanwhile have no bargaining pieces outside of where they agree with SNP - they 'demanded' various things of a Labour government, but have admitted they will never allow a Tory government, so Ed can count on their votes without them having the numbers to make him do anything.
Financier may have been just teasing them a bit, but if I went up to somebody genuinely wanting to know more and got that kind of response, my parting shot would be, 'Well if that's the best you can do, why the [expletive redacted] are you here then? What's the point?' and stalk off muttering about voting for someone else.
Feel free to disagree with me.
Although I do like the way the writers of Arrow/The Flash kind of highlighted the way Star City is Vancouver at night and Central City is Vancouver when it's sunny during the cross-over episodes. Great writing.
Actually, the fan service in The Flash is absolutely beyond anything I've seen before and never seems forced. The last two episodes have been particularly wonderful.
Haven't seen the Tunnel - what's that about? The Bridge is excellent and odd. Between the Lines series1 starts on the Drama Channel at 10pm Monday
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
The Tunnel was one of my favorites dramas of last year and good to know there is a new series due next year
I didn't know The Tunnel is coming back, very pleased to hear that, thanks.
The discrepancies between the books and the TV show in the latest series of Game of Thrones were a surprise.
Turn off the internet and get Back To Work!!!!!
F1's quite handy, as I don't have formal holidays, so F1 weekends are largely time off from 'serious' writing.
If we end in the situation of Tories most seats and an English majority, Labour underpinned by SNP and PC then each vote will be difficult.
If there's a controversial English-only law Ed wants to pass then the SNP/PC can threaten to abstain, allowing the Tories to vote it down. Ed will vote after vote have to offer more and more sweeties to the SNP/PC to get them to actually show up at the lobbies, or lose one vote after another.
So long as its not a Vote of No Confidence, the SNP/PC are free to abstain and keep their promises not to let the Tories in. SNP continue to reign supreme in Scotland, Ed is in office but not in power, English voters are furious and the union is increasingly in peril. Seems like a sweet deal for the SNP to me.
Why should SNP MPs cut off their own nose and trudge through the lobbies like Ed's whipped lapdogs unless they want to?
I couldn't give a toss about anyone bar Agent Coulson in SHIELD.
And Smoak and Diggle in Arrow. The rest are just too self absorbed or boring.
Agent Carter was such a change of range for MARVEL. I felt it was self-closing as a plot line that not renewing it wouldn't hurt - but I think it's a mistake franchise wise.
DareDevil appealed to me - I liked that the ident of the character became known, and it was much more challenging to his friends.
TBH, I didn't get how The Flash or DareDevil could be extended TV characters - now I do. I feel I was narrow-minded until now.
The Flash in Smallville was crap in comparison and I
I sometimes engage in conversation with proselytizers on the same basis - I don't want to waste their time either by giving the impression I might convert on the spot, but how they respond to some questions or a bit of challenge shows how much effort they are putting into it
SNP/PC can still abstain or vote against a Budget, Queens Speech or Vote of No Confidence in Labour and it doesn't trigger an election or let the Tories in. It gives Labour two weeks to decide whether they renegotiate with SNP/PC or pact with the Tories to abstain a Tory Queens Speech and let David Cameron in. SNP/PC are immune from "letting the Tories in" as long as they would vote against a Tory Queens Speech.
Of course Labour could just fold and refuse either, triggering an election after the two weeks. But they would have to both have the money to contest one AND not expect to be punished by their own Core Voters to failing to accept the SNP/PC nudge to the left.
Labour are utterly, utterly buggered.
But as hellish as it will be, especially compared to the relative harmony of this coalition, I think people underestimate how badly Lab in particular want to be in power and so will be willing to compromise on things to get the SNP votes, and the SNP seem canny enough to, for the most part, not overplay it.
The stress on a Lab/SNP govt would either tear the govt apart or neuter the Nats.
I have it ready to watch and have watched the first two episodes. But it's only been out a week and time is limited to binge through it. Maybe tomorrow.
Anyway, I hear there's this thing called sunshine outside, must be off.
Kind regards and good luck.
I'm in two minds about Better Call Saul - it's very patchy - and slow.
The discussion lasted well over 30 minutes and we gathered a crowd of about 50.who became quite vocal. In such a constituency to offer platitudes and slogans without having any factual support was ill-prepared to say the least and as one onlooker told them - insulted his intelligence.
The pacing seemed just right for that show just as the constant bat shit crazy pacing works so well for Reign. Depends how its written and how it comes together.
Am rather partial to sub titled shows. Have Hostages pending [IIRC an Israeli drama]
Comical.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/