Category Archives: Popular culture

He’s NOT the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy!

July 2, 2009 – 11:21 pm

Councillors in Glasgow have lifted an unofficial 30-year-old ban on the Monty Python film The Life of Brian. The council’s licensing and regulatory committee approved a request on Tuesday from Glasgow Film Theatre to show the biblical satire under a 15 certificate.
Glasgow was one of 39 local authorities in the UK that refused to [...]

By DeusExMacintosh | Also posted in Free Speech, Funnies, Politics, Religion | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)

Don’t blame it on the Blankie

June 29, 2009 – 9:41 pm

When I was a little girl (say 2 or 3 years old), my Dad used to sing Don’t Blame it on the Boogie to me, but he refashioned it as “Don’t Blame it on the Blankie“. My security blanket had the very imaginative name of “Blankie”. Apparently I would wail and say, “No-o-o-o-o-o! Don’t blame [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Media | Tagged | Comments (27)

Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

June 21, 2009 – 10:37 am

As Legal Eagle, Deus Ex Macintosh and a couple of others know, I have three characters in this novel who are — to greater or lesser degrees — torturers. One of them also has an excellent sense of humour. I mean, the little shit’s actually outstandingly funny. I tried to change this early on in [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Fark!, Literature, Music | Tagged , , | Comments (5)

There are only 7 plots…

June 9, 2009 – 4:51 am

… And all of ‘em are in Homer.
Well, that’s the story, anyway. Sometimes the magic number is eleven. Sometimes the magic number is three. Sometimes it’s something else. Sometimes Virgil gets a look-in, but usually Homer gets the blame for the sum total of basic plotlines in Western Literature. I used to think this assertion [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Books, Fark!, Literature | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (50)

A cunning plan…

June 4, 2009 – 4:18 pm

I’m not a fan of the reality TV genre. It’s lazy television. It makes me want to come out in hives half the time. How can people embarrass themselves like that?
It looks like reality TV might be going the way of the dodo in France. A French court has ruled that being a reality TV [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Law, Media | Tagged , , , | Comments (19)

Hedonism, Inc

April 30, 2009 – 7:32 am

More than one commentator over many years has made the point that the liberal choice architecture of capitalist societies is actually incompatible with capitalism itself: getting up on Monday morning to do one’s work for The Man involves not getting so wasted on the weekend that capitalist acts between consenting adults become impossible once the [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Music, Personal liberty, Politics, Privacy | Comments (11)

Disappointing Dora

March 16, 2009 – 9:44 pm

Before you have kids, if you are anything like me, you have this idea that you won’t let them get sucked into consuming various television shows, junk food, brand names and etc. Then reality hits as your 2 year old points at an ad in the supermarket carpark and says, “Dere’s Wiggles, Mummy!” Children are [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Children, Education, Feminism, Media, Motherhood | Tagged , , | Comments (44)

Your starter for 10

February 25, 2009 – 9:08 am

University Challenge, it’s fair to say, is knitted into British culture in all sorts of odd and interesting ways. The only other parallels I can think of for cultural influence and longevity are shows like Blue Peter and Dr Who. The headline for this post, for example, is instantly recognizable to pretty much anyone over here. [...]

By skepticlawyer | Also posted in Education, England, Feminism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (89)

Inauguration 2009

February 5, 2009 – 9:46 pm
By DeusExMacintosh | Also posted in Funnies, History, Politics | Comments (4)

Kickass chicks

January 6, 2009 – 12:14 pm

This post was inspired by a post at Hoyden about Town, which listed favourite kickass chicks from TV shows. I love a kickass chick. My present favourite is Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica.
But then I got thinking: why do I love kickass chicks so much? Well, secretly, it’s how I wish I could be. Despite the [...]

By Legal Eagle | Also posted in Feminism, Society | Comments (84)