2013-03-18
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2013-02-12
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igowen: “How Netflix is turning viewers into puppets, an overly alarmist title (and conclusion) for an otherwise interesting article.”
He’s right, it is overly alarmist. One of the interesting things about the Netflix House of Cards from my point of view (ie someone who saw the originals back in the ’90s on BBC) is that it’s actually that rare beast: a decent US remake of a British show.
It could just be that that’s because the US is slightly less terrifyingly bad at translating material now, but the failure of Life On Mars just a few years ago suggests that’s not universally the case. I suspect it’s actually got a lot to do with the approach Netflix are taking to drama: pick good people, take their hands off, and let them get it made. If those good people are picked partly due to “viewers who liked x also liked y and z so remake x with y and z”, then at least it means that there may be some actual connection.
(As an aside, I wonder if Spacey’s work with the Old Vic in London meant that he perhaps took more from the original (assuming he watched it) than most other American actors would?)
2013-02-05
UK origin-producted food and drink
frankie-roberto posted this list of items that, under EU law, cannot be described with these names if they’re not from the relevant area:
- Kentish ale
- Kentish strong ale
- Rutland bitter
- Cornish Pasty
- Beacon Fell traditional Lancashire
- Bonchester
- Buxton Blue
- Dorset Blue
- Dovedale
- Exmoor Blue
- Single Gloucester
- Staffordshire Cheese
- Blue Stilton
- White Stilton
- Swaledale cheese
- Swaledale ewes’ cheese
- Teviotdale cheese
- West Country Farmhouse Cheddar
- Gloucestershire cider
- Gloucestershire perry
- Herefordshire cider
- Herefordshire perry
- Worcestershire cider
- Worcestershire perry
- Cornish Clotted Cream
- Arbroath Smokie
- Whitstable Oysters
- Scottish farmed salmon
- Traditional Grimsby Smoked Fish
- Cornish Sardines
- Lough Neagh Eels
- Isle of Man Queenies
- Isle of Man Manx Loaghtan Lamb
- Orkney beef
- Orkney lamb
- Scotch beef
- Scotch lamb
- Shetland lamb
- Welsh beef
- Welsh lamb
- Jersey Royal Potatoes
- Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb
- New Season Comber Potatoes / Comber Earlies
- Armagh Bramley Apples
- Melton Mowbray Pork Pie
- Traditional Cumberland Sausage
- Newmarket Sausage
An eclectic list!
(Source: defra.gov.uk)
2012-12-24
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Pylon construction diagram, from Makeshift’s Pylons of Great Britain manifesto/booklet.
2012-11-30
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The Royal Mint’s London Underground £2 coin gift set:
On 10 January 1863 the world’s first underground railway opened in London. An engineering triumph, the 150thanniversary is being marked with not one but two new UK £2 coins for 2013.
The ‘Roundel’ £2 coin is inspired by the 1938 poster by Man Ray and depicts the world-famous London Underground logo, while the ‘Train’ £2 coin shows a Tube train hurtling out of a tunnel. Presented in a specially designed pack based on the iconic Tube map, no other memorabilia captures the spirit of London so well.
(Source: royalmint.com)
2012-11-19
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2012-11-14
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Google UK’s autocomplete suggestions for “is it legal”, logged in with my work account, from an IP located in California. (Previously. See also.)
2012-11-12
post/35590065245
Louise Robinson, president of the Girls’ School Association, quoted in an interview with the Independent, under the headline Gove’s obsession with bygone era will fail pupils, says schools’ chief.
‘Pleading for an emphasis on developing skills needed for the future, she added: “The Star Trek society is already here. We need to look at the way the world of the future is going. At present the way we run our schools is based on the 19th century.”’
