Kingdom of Late Shifting (WARNING- CONTAINS SCARY BALLOON MAN)

23:18 / 11.02.05

Thanks, both.

Not only does Barbelith offer a comforting bosom for terminally obsessed gamers, it also lends its many sticky info-tentacles to those in need.

23:20 / 11.02.05

Well, it's a two-way thing... if Mr Brigade and I were to be deprived of the Late Shift, we'd probably just go mad and not be able to do our information-collecting job in the first place...

23:22 / 11.02.05

I'm confused. Isn't the ID card thing totally motivated by the desire for votes from Mail readers?

23:24 / 11.02.05

If it a lateshift you need, then by gum it's a late shift you shall have!

However, my own data-suckers have returned this.

Passed the Commons. But still has to do the Lords thing.
Though if they refuse it, it can get re-admitted until they have to accept it, right?
Politics is not my strongest area.

23:26 / 11.02.05

Strangely enough, large parts of the Mail's editorial staff take a libertarian stance- they may hate foreigners, etc... but they'll be buggered if they'll let a bunch of allegedly lefty intellectuals tell 'em what to do.

But speed cameras. That's what most of their ire seems reserved for these days. Two fucking words- "DRIVE SLOWER!!!"

23:27 / 11.02.05

I always thought it was motivated by the goatlizards of alcatraz, to please their sirian masters through monopoly of...

Sorry, wrong forum.

23:28 / 11.02.05

It goes to the Lords a second time, if it's passed in the Commons again. Then it doesn't really matter what the Lords say, the Commons can just force it through anyway. I think. I forget.

Fucking Conservatives. The only time in their entire lives that they could have done something useful.

23:30 / 11.02.05

Hadn't seen that... although I've been mostly doing non-political civil service clients the last couple of days.
The Lords can (and may well) still bounce it back... it's gonna happen, that's for sure, but I reckon it'll be a while.

23:32 / 11.02.05

've been mostly doing non-political civil service clients the last couple of days.

Good thing too. Politicians always ask for the kinky shit.

23:33 / 11.02.05

Response to the recent use of the Parliament Act (over fox-hunting) could prove a useful indicator as to what the future holds on ID cards...
As I say, the bastards'll bring 'em in, definitely. It's a question of "when". Oh, and "do we have time to knock ourselves up some fake identities before it becomes law". That sort of thing.

There're still a lot of infrastructural points which they don't seem to have decided on yet before the thing can actually go ahead.

23:37 / 11.02.05

Well, we may as well hijack as many planes as possible while we still can. 'Cause the times they are a' changin'.

23:45 / 11.02.05

just a brief change of subject to say that I'm totally grooving on the new Julian Cope album RIGHT NOW, especially his rhyme of "the room they found Saddam in" with "the place is rammin'".

alas

23:51 / 11.02.05

He's jam in.

Hey.

23:52 / 11.02.05

Evenin', alas!

23:58 / 11.02.05

Hello alas. How are you?

I'm a Julian Cope virgin after all these years. Does this make me a bad person? I need you to tell it to me straight.

00:01 / 12.02.05

Not a bad person. Just a thus-far unfortunate one.

00:27 / 12.02.05

Still there, Meludreen? You might be interested in this from Friday's Evening Standard (okay, a shit paper, but still...)

"Ministers were today set to abandon attempts to force the identity card plan into law before the election.

Insiders say the Government has not set aside time for the scheme to be put through Parliament before the expected 5 May polling day.

Although the Bill cleared the Commons with a 160 majority last night, it is expected to face fierce opposition in the House of Lords."

00:37 / 12.02.05

It's like you say, though. Only a matter of time now.

How long does this all take if the Lords reject it? Is there a certain amount of time before the commons can pass it again and force it through?

00:41 / 12.02.05

I guess it all depends on the election. I mean, we know Mr Tony's gonna win, but with the election out of the way, will he give as much of a shit about policy for a while? That could slow it down a bit.

00:51 / 12.02.05

Still, we're fairly resigned to the fact now.
Fuck it. The bastards can tag me if they want. It's all the Spectacle blah blah blah...
This just means I need to get a phone cover that matches the holographic watermark across my face.

If it's not one bloody thing...
(Although having a mobile in the first place would be a start)

01:00 / 12.02.05

It's like the whole "house arrests" thing- everyone on the human rights side was opposed to the use of phone tap evidence- now the choice is between phone tap evidence and house arrests (which, we were also told, would apply to the families of those suspected of terrorist offences as well as the suspects themselves), the LESS INHUMANE option is to go for the phone taps. "Punch in the face? or would Sir prefer the kick in the bollocks?"

Ho hum.

I'm now fuelling my RAGE!!! by listening to Mayhem through my one good ear. (And I'm tired because I used up valuable sleeping time to go and buy ish 1 of Vimanarama).

Someone tell me nice things. Or funny things, anyway.

01:06 / 12.02.05

I tend towards flippancy when things get to me like that. though sometimes I think I should take it far more seriously. Well, I do take it seriously, but I put up a bit of a humour barrier to stop it from pissing me off.

In spankingly stupendous news....

I got the Seaguy trade, after missing the original run.

Best Morricone in a loooong time. It made me read it three or four times in two days. I could go on forever about the greatness of every aspect of that comic. And may well yet in the appropriate forum.

01:09 / 12.02.05

Shit! Didn't know the trade had hit Blighty yet... they didn't have it in Tottenham (probably just as well, given my financial situation for the next week or so...) I've got all the issues, but I prefer trades, and I figure it needs all the sales it can get if they're gonna be allowed to do another series. Seaguy fucking ruled.

My mood has lightened somewhat by playing the old game "listen to Norwegian black metal bands and try to imagine their facial expressions while they're doing the vocals without the make-up on". Never fails to raise a chuckle.

01:20 / 12.02.05

"listen to Norwegian black metal bands and try to imagine their facial expressions while they're doing the vocals without the make-up on"

That old chestnut. Big hit in the playgrounds. Right up there with Yu-Z-Mon or whatever the yoof are larking around with now.

Seaguy. Ahhhh.
Best ending ever. God. I have a lot to say about it, but should probably take time to collect my thoughts. It just worked completely for me. There was nothing about it I didn't love. I think Cameron said in one of the threads that it's the bestest funnest Morrison script since Kill Your boyfriend. I'd agree with that. It sent me back to that and the filth my Animal Mans (men?).

Chubby...
WE3 has nothing on you.

"Dat's how it is with pals"

01:31 / 12.02.05

I've also just realised it's half-three in the morning! Which means my night is about half-done, and in a scant few hours I can go home and watch another couple of episodes of Battlestar Galactica before some well-earned spliff and sleep!

(Although I've just frightened myself by reading a Kansas-based bulletin board about the still uncaptured BTK Strangler. If you think we get freaks on here... fucking hell.)

01:43 / 12.02.05

How so? People in support of him?

Haven't tried Galactica yet, though I've read many good things in Film + TV.
Not seen many TV series of late. I'm a box set kind of person. When I get going I'll fire through in a day or two.

I bought the 5th Element the other day. Milla Jojovich in scanty bandages talking a weird alien language.... Me and Besson are in agreement on this one.

01:46 / 12.02.05

It's (as far as I can tell from a brief trawl) got quite a lot of people accusing each other of BEING him... which was when I got freaked out- the guy sends letters to the cops and stuff- of course he'll join a bulletin board about his crimes. One of them probably IS him. It's all a bit too Millennium for my liking. (After further research I may start a thread, if I'm not too scared).

You HAVE to see the new Galactica. A friend's been downloading them for me (I don't have a telly) and they're wicked. Very, very dark, which is much more logical, considering the situation the human race is in in the story...

01:52 / 12.02.05

Lets see here....

BTK = Blind Torture Kill. Hmmm, I.... Eep!

Not sure I want to read that. At this time of night it's probably the same as eating a pound of cheese right before going to sleep.

Yeah, the more I hear about Galactica the more I want to see it, but it's not looking likely for the forseeable future. Probably a good thing, 'cause once I'm hooked into good TV, I'll be there 'till the bitter end and I really should be writing instead of sitting on my arse.

01:53 / 12.02.05

BTK = Bind Torture Kill.

Only marginally less Eepsom.

01:56 / 12.02.05

SO I'll ask this here, as Comics is a bit of a minefield - given that I thought The Filth was an enormous waste of time and NXM fun in places, but not fun in quite a few more, and also that the combination of the two series left me so apathetic about comics that I've not bought one since and have *still* not bothered picking up the final issue of Promethea, would you say that the Seaguy trade is worth my cash?

Like, is it going to wow my manbits, given how little I care about the form right now?

01:59 / 12.02.05

I'd recommend it. It's lots of fun, kind of like what comics USED to be like. I also found it heartbreaking. The art's lovely, which should go without saying, and Morrison's back at his Doom Patrolly best, just coming up with wacky ideas and bunging them together (the Wasp Hives of Atlantis, the carnivorous balloon animals)... I'd say give it a try.

02:04 / 12.02.05

I was off comics for ages until I picked up the first New X-Men hardback trade. In my opinion, X-Men was great until "Riot at Xaviers" finished, then got really shite. The Filth was Ok, but it was just the invisibles with rancid semen, nothing really new. WE3 was great.

Seaguy really tickled my fancy though. It was fun and it was smart, didn't take itself to seriously, pretty emotional at points and fucking gorgeous throughout. Morrison at his least po-faced. It depends what you like most about comics whether it's worth picking up, but it's definately the Morrison comic I've enjoyed most recently.

02:05 / 12.02.05

THE comic I've enjoyed most.

(Although I'm liking Milligan's X-force, 1st trade)

02:13 / 12.02.05

That's sort of the problem - I can't remember why comics juiced me up in the first place. I'm even finding it hard to get myself to buy the last couple of Bone collections, and I know I used to adore that series.

Tentative mark in the 'to buy' list, then. Cheers guys.