Monday 31 August 2009

Watched recently

The X Factor - Miss Fitz and Jamie Afro were pretty good - 4/5

The Cube - 4/5

Big Brother: Days 86 and 87 - 3/5

Benefit Busters - that Sherrelle girl had great lips - 4/5

The Tudors: Episodes 3.3 and 3.4 - 4/5

House: Simple Explanation - 4/5

Entourage: No More Drama - 4/5

Saturday 29 August 2009

Watched recently

Countdown: 27th August
Ed Rossiter - 83
Dan Brusca - 77
Yvette Reeves - 67
Got the conundrum - TERRIFIED.

Big Brother: Day 83 - 4/5

The Dave Fanning Interview ...With Radiohead - 4/5

Vertical City: Moscow - 4/5

What Katie Did Next - 4/5

Countdown: 28th August
Chris Davies - 90
Ed Rossiter - 73
Dan Brusca - 68
Ed Rossiter was clearly not happy to have lost. He looked like a character from a Danny Dyer movie! Spotted the conundrum - DIFFUSION - and an 8-letter word, REASONED.

Shooting Stars - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 84 - 3/5

Big Brother: Day 85 - Marcus evicted, which is a shame. He was probably the greatest housemate ever, as Grace Dent suggested on the eviction show. There's only one winner for me now: Sophie - 4/5

Thursday 27 August 2009

Watched yesterday

Countdown: 26th August
Ed Rossiter - 93
Adam Haward - 77
Dan Brusca - 73
One 8-letter word spotted, BROADEST. As with yesterday, got the counundrum but was just beaten to it - LICQOURICE.

Wainwright Walks: Coast To Coast: The End Of The Road - 4/5

Dragons' Den - 4/5

Wednesday 26 August 2009

Watched yesterday

Countdown: 25th August
Ed Rossiter - 105
Paul Varlaam - 67
Dan Brusca - 52
Countdown returns from its summer break, though I'm a day late as Sky+ didn't pick it up and Channel 4 don't repeat it anymore. Oh well. Felt a bit rusty, hence the poor score, but still pulled out two 8-letter words - BASTARDS and SHORTIES - and the conundrum, though Rossiter just beat me to it: DESCRIBED.

Coast: Norway: Lillesand To Svalbard - pretty spectacular scenery, maybe a place to visit next summer - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 81 - 3/5

Big Brother: Day 82 - 4/5

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Watched recently

True Blood: The First Date - 3/5

True Blood: Mine - not sure I'm going to stick with this. I can't say I care about any of the characters and, to be honest, it can be a little dull - 3/5

Jam & Jerusalem: Episodes 3.5 and 3.6 - 3/5

Rivers With Griff Rhys Jones: East - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 80 - 4/5

House: Locked-In - 4/5

Sunday 23 August 2009

Watched yesterday

The Tudors: Episodes 3.1 and 3.2 - 4/5

Wainwright Walks: Coast To Coast: Mowbray And The Moors - 4/5

The X Factor - actually a little disappointed by this first batch of auditions. There were some good singers of course, notably for me Danyl (who must be red-hot favourite already) and Stacey from Dagenham, but the transfer to an arena format has made the show a bit unwieldy and it felt like a bit of a drudge. Cheryl Cole is as lovely as ever though - 3/5

The Cube - this is better, a new ITV gameshow that's actually worth watching. In many ways the style feels like a hybrid of WWTBAM? and Deal Or No Deal, combining the studio setting and production of the former with the relaxed presentation style and cod-psychology of the latter. Add in the various challenges and likeable contestants and it's a compeling 45 minutes of television, even if it probably takes them half a day to record it - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 79 - classic diary room from Marcus. At this point I've decided that I want either him or the impossibly endearing Sophie to win. As it happens, they're 5/2 joint favourites at the moment, though some bookies have Sophie just edging it - 4/5

Saturday 22 August 2009

Links of the day

Gosh, it seems like forever since I last posted any links. I won't apologise though, I've been busy!

Talk Of The Tyne speculates on Sol Campbell joining Notts County.

The Star News speculates on Carrie Prejean being lined up for Celebrity Apprentice. She's keen, apparently. I'm not so sure because she'll only bring more abuse upon herself, but then again the fact she stands up to all of that is one reason why I like her so much so if she does do it, then good luck to her!

[UPDATE: other reports say that Carrie isn't doing this due to scheduling conflicts.]

The LA Times reports on, err, hard times for the US porn industry.

Tim Montgomerie looks at what the Conservatives have achieved in twelve years of opposition.

Steve Rothaus Looks ahead to today's DtD Exchange '09 conference in Florida, which Carrie Prejean will be addressing.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Watched recently

Dragons' Den - 4/5

Big Brother: Days 76 to 78 - bea evicted, very predictable though I would have prefered David to go because he never ceases to irritate me. Missed the first five minutes of the show because Channel 4 started it 5 minutes earlier than advertised - 4/5

Skins: Episode 3.8 (I think) - overall, this new line-up is considerably weeaker than the old one. I can't stand Cook, but he's a fantastic character - 3/5

Benefit Busters - 3/5

Entourage: Murphy's Lie - 4/5

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Watched recently

Dexter: I Had A Dream - 4/5

Dexter: Do You Take Dexter Morgan? - 4/5

House: The Social Contract - 4/5

Big Brother Days 73-75 - 4/5

Rivers With Griff Rhys Jones: The Lea - 3/5

Peter Andre: Going It Alone - 3/5

House: Here Kitty - 4/5

Coast: Inner Hebrides To Faroe Islands - the Faroes look quite spectacular - 4/5

Sunday 16 August 2009

Watched recently

Mesrine: Killer Instinct - 4/5

Red Riding: The Year Of Our Lord 1983 - undeniably a quality production, but I struggled to follow this final film - 3/5

Legend Of The Seeker: Destiny - wanted to like this because in future episodes there's a really hot woman I could have spent a few hours ogling, but it's unwatchable if you're older than 9 - 2/5

Entourage: Fore! - 4/5

Big Brother: Days 70-72 - 4/5

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Five - overall, one of the very best things the BBC has ever produced - 4/5

Saturday 15 August 2009

Links of the day

The Economist blackouts in Britain by 2015.

Bitter and Blue> reports on Kasper Schmeichel leaving Manchester City for Notts County. More coverage at Goal.com.

OnlineFlashGames has a game called 'Leslie Bibb Dress Up'. It isn't much of a game, to be honest. All you do is drag and drop clothing items onto a cartoon version of Leslie that doesn't really look all that much like her and, err, that's it!

It Was Some Kid Who Looked Like Me! doesn't agree with Carrie Prejean's views on same-sex marriage, but she's happy she voiced them. Encouraging to see that there are some bloggers out there who while not agreeing with Miss Prejean, can respond in a way that doesn't involve abusing her.

Denimology has scans of Alice Dellal in June's issue of Jalouse magazine.

AICN has a still from Avatar. It's not much in the scheme of things, but for a Cameron geek like myself it's great!

ManUtdTalk have Sky Sports News' subliminal message for Notts County's chairman.

There, I Fixed It has the Narnia door.

FAIL Blog has a door fail and a smoking fail.

Mail Online has Big Brother's Sophie in a bikini.

Hankster has put together a few stills of Carrie Prejean on Fox & Friends back in May.

Phelim O'Neill on Moon and old-skool movies special effects.

Vice gave Alice Dellal an Olympus E-P1 so she could photoblog her life.

Cranmer takes Jim Fitzpatrick to task over his walking out of a Muslim wedding.

Capone loves District 9. I can't wait to see this, but won't have to wait too long until it opens here in the UK on 4th Septmber.

Bagehot defends the NHS.

Danny Leigh takes a look back at the films of 1999.

Iain Dale on the debate about the NHS. He contends that it's impossible to have a rational debate about the NHS because anyone who expresses even mild criticism is "dumped on from a great height". I would disagree with this. There's a perpetual debate about the NHS or aspects of it, be it why more isn't being done to eliminate mixed-sex wards, the postcode lottery for various treatments, hospital cleanliness and so on and so on. What we don't seem to like here in the UK is people in other countries attacking the NHS or, as is the case in the US, wilfully distorting reality to make the NHS look bad. The message from the British public seems to be it's our NHS, so we have the right to criticise it, nobody else.

Stuart Heritage looks at the arguments for and against cancelling 24. The next season could be the last according to Fox Entertainment president Kevin Reilly.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Law Abiding Citizen trailer

Trailer for Leslie Bibb's new film, which opens in the US on 16th october and here in the UK on 6th November. Sadly, only a couple of brief glimpses of Leslie in the trailer :/

Friday 14 August 2009

Watched yesterday

House: The Softer Side - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 69 - 4/5

Skins: Episode 3.7 - 4/5

Legend Of The Seeker: Prophecy - 2/5

Links of the day

FAIL Blog has a mountain goat fail. They also have a guy who claimed his cat was downloading child porn.

Ben Child looks at early reviews of sci-fier District 9.

TMZ has Bar Refaeli in a bikini.

Peter Bradshaw gives The Butterfly Effect a positive (and much deserved) reassessment.

Empire Online reports that Bryan Singer might be onboard for a possible Battlestar Galactica movie.

This Is Nottingham reports on Notts County's 1-0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers in the Carling Cup.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Thursday 13 August 2009

Timothy Olyphant is the Lawman

Carrie Prejean auditions for Deal Or No Deal

Before she became Miss California, Carrie Prejean tried out for Deal Or No Deal!

Links of the day

Fail Blog has a racism fail.

Neil Moxley has a pisspoor attempt at trying to convince us that we're already falling out of love with Sven. He says there's no evidence he's been to Meadow Lane since his 'unveiling'. Clearly he's overlooked the reports of real people who have seen him at games, or the TV pictures of him in his office. Maybe he thinks they were staged, like the moon landings or something...

Bobbie Johnson takes a look at what might be behind the slowing growth of Wikipedia.

Heraclitean Fire wasn't impressed by The Cherry Orchard at the Old Vic.

Playbill has the full casting announcement for Inherit The Wind. Kevin Spacey and David Trouhgton toplining, but I won't pretent to have heard of anyone else in the company, though I'm sure they'll all be lovely.

Charles Arthur on Facebook Lite.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Watched yesterday

Dexter: Go Your Own Way - 4/5

House: Unfaithful - 4/5

Coast: Anglesey To Blackpool - 4/5

Wainwright Walks: Coast To Coast: Swaledale Uncovered - 4/5

Dragons' Den - 4/5

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Watched recently

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Four - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 65 - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 66 - 4/5

You've Been Framed! - 4/5

Rivers With Griff Rhys Jones: West - 3/5

Louis Theroux: The City Addicted To Crystal Meth - 3/5

Big Brother: Day 67 - 4/5

The Hotel Inspector - 2/5

Big Brother: Day 68 - 4/5

Monday 10 August 2009

Links of the day

Richard Willams on Saturday's win for Notts County.

Cranmer on Gordon Brown and religion.

Chickipedia lists a friend of mine.

BfB have another Notts County match report.

Liz Jones interviews Dervla Kirwan. Unusually for Mail Online, I find myself agreeing with the comments - those photos do Kirwan no justice at all.

McG talks Terminator 5 and 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Brian Lowry reviews Mad Men 3.1.

Merrick has word on writers for Mission: Impossible IV.

Massamyrm reviews GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra - summary: it's crap, but good crap.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Sunday 9 August 2009

Quote of the day

It’s probably a good time to get them and maybe a little role reversal of last season, when we were the club everyone was looking at. Now the attention is on Notts County.

They’ve got some good players in but this is still League Two and they’re not suddenly going to turn into Man United. We’ll respect them obviously but I feel our squad’s good enough not to be bothered about anything.

Lee Bullock, Bradford Telegraph and Argus, 7th August.

Notts County went on to win 5-0.

Flogging the dead tree press

Rupert Murdoch announced this week that his News Corp titles would all begin to start charging for their online content. In the UK, this covers The Times, Sunday Times, The Sun and News Of The World. he confidently predicts that where he leads, others will follow. In fairness to the big man, that's been the case in the past - Sky still leads innovation in television, for instance - but this time around I think he may have met his match.

The history of newspapers charging for their online content hasn't been particularly illustrious. Back in the day, many had a model where all their fresh content was free for a day or two then you had to pay to view archive material. While there might be a few die-hard sites out there still plugging away with this, most have ditched archive subscriptions because they generated pennies. Moreover, moving content behind a pay wall, out of reach of search engines and unlinkable by blogs and other sites placed limitations on the number of visitors a site could attract.

There are only two traditional newspapers that make the online subscription model work, namely the (Murdoch-owned) Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, and they both point to what you need to pull it off - quality, specialized content, a cut above what your competitors offer. The news and analysis proferred by these newspapers is deemed sufficiently valuable to their readers that they are willing to pay for it.

Unfortunately that simply can't be said for most newspapers, which aren't niche-focused, but more general in scope. Taking Murdoch's UK titles, none of them offer content of a similar or better standard that can't be found elsewhere for free, so where's the incentive for anyone to pay for them? I think Murdoch's competitors might be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of his newspapers disappearing over that pay wall.

The free availability of online news has also demaged brand loyalty. The typical reader of printed newspapers always buys the same one or two titles and rarely strays, except perhaps when their usual read has sold-out. Online, people may have their favourite sites, but they are for more likely to go to others, as that's just the nature of the medium.

For general newspapers online, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle. To start charging for what is now free is both technically impractical and commercially unviable.

That said, there is an issue that needs addressing and Murdoch's intervention might just pulls some heads out the sand. Most newspapers make a loss from their online offerings, other just a tiny profit. The advertising-funded model most newspapers have adopted isn't really working. For online newspapers to survive there needs to be consolidation and, perhaps, de-commercialisation of the market.

Firstly, consolidation. Truth is that there are far too many newspapers, particularly in the UK. Do we really need both a Daily Mail and a Daily Express, a Sun and a Star, a Telegraph and a Times? If some of these titles were to fall by the wayside it would increase advertising revenues to those that survived and bring many of them into profit. Whether or not those profits would be sufficient for publishers is a another matter.

If it proves impossible to generate sufficient profit from online news then maybe it's time to de-commercialize some elements of the sector and remove the profit motive. When it comes to the bottom line, populism earns and journalism burns. Look at television, where populist shows like soaps and light-drama bring in the money, but the worthy stuff like arts programming and documentaries more often costs. This 'highbrow' programming surivives in the UK largely thanks to the BBC, which is publically funded.

There's a strong case that proper, broadsheet-style journalism would be best preserved by a funding model different to tabloid journalism. Tabloid journalism is cheaper to produce and attracts more readers and more advertisers. It can be made commercially viable. Weightier journalism, like television documentaries and arts programming, needs help, which is why I think that something akin to charitable trusts may provide a vehicle for funding such journalism in the future. It would remove the imperative to be profitable and allow journalists and writers to focus on simply producing quality content. It might even go some way to restoring the profession's tarnished reputation.

Getting newspapers from where they are now to where I think they should be won't be easy though and it may be that it will take a few newspapers to go out of business to compel any meaningful changes. Either they will evolve, or they will die. Inertia isn't an option.

Links of the day

The London Paper on next year's Bridge Project at the Old Vic. It's a Shakespeare double-bill of As You like It and The Tempest, the latter replacing Chekov's Three Sisters, which was originally mooted. Cast includes Anne-Marie Duff, Stephen Dillane, Juliet Rylance and Christian Camargo, who played Dexter's brother in the eponymous series. Sam Mendes returns as director.

The Telegraph reports on a successful start to the season for Notts County, a svensational 5-0 stuffing of Bradford City. Shame that Radio Nottingham didn't bother with a commentary, considering it was at Meadow Lane. We don't pick up RADIO LEEDS very well here.

Cranmer on the confusion over exactly who is acting Prime Minister at the moment.

Laura Battle on the ukulele. I really don't care about the ukulele, but it mentions in the story that Rosamund Pike is supposedly claiming to be learning how to play, which is possibly the weirdest thing I've heard all month.

Stephanie Bell talks to BB6 contestant Orlaith McAllister. Sad to see she's living on benefits :/

Stuart Levine reports on some producers unhappy with the new Leno scheduling. He also has a story about what's happening at the FX channel.

FilmoFilia has a poster for Dorian Grey, starring Rebecca Hall.

Sarah Hemming on Brian Friel.

The Mud Cake has an awesome photo of Rosamund Pike.

FirstShowing have posters for Law Abiding Citizen, which stars Leslie Bibb. Tip to producers: more people will go and see your film if you put Miss Bibb on your posters, no matter how good they might otherwise be.

San Francisco Chronicle has a Q&A with Paul Giamatti.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Saturday 8 August 2009

Sean Hannity interviews Carrie Prejean



Good to hear that she's going to carry on with the public speaking. I think she comes across really well - she's certainly much more confident than she was even a few short weeks ago - but I am of course hopelessly biased ^_^

Cover-girl Carrie Prejean



If anyone in the US can send me a copy of this it would be much appreciated - email me!

Worth a punt?

For a while now I've been exploring the world of share trading. I haven't participated, but have spent time doing my reasearch, learning about such things as Bollinger Bands and the Relative Strength Index.

I've now decided to put what I've learnt into practice with a fantasy trading account at Virtualtrader, where you can trade FTSE100 shares.

Based on Friday's closing prices and other statistical data, these are my current buy/sell recommendations for fantasy share trading...

Buy
United Utilities, Rexam (at 217p).

Sell
3i, Admiral, Amlin, Aviva, BT, Barclays, British Airways, BSkyB (at 549p), BT, British Land, Carnival, Experian, HSBC, Hammerson, Home Retail (at 320p), Intercontinental Hotels, Johnson Matthey (at 1458p), Kazakhmys (at 978p), Land Securities, Liberty, Lloyds, Pearson, Prudential (at 476p), Rolls Royce, Sage, Shire, Smiths, TUI Travel, Tate & Lyle (at 377p), Thomas Cook, Thomson Reuters (at 1995p), Vodafone, Whitbread and Wolseley.

Other FTSE100 shares should be held. Given the large number of sell recommendations over buys, my current opinion is that a market downturn is imminent.

My portfolio
As I'm starting my Virtualtrader account from scratch, I obviously can't make any of my recommended sales, so I've only placed orders to purchase £1000 of shares in United Utilities at best price and £1000 of shares in Rexam at up to 217p when the markets open on Monday.

Convenience store FAIL

Spotted yesterday...

Watched yesterday

Entourage: Running On E - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 64 - Hira didn't deserve to go, but to an extent her departure was engineered by the producers who opted to turn the vote into a 'vote to save' rather than a 'vote to evict'. This has the effect of removing the weaker characters, rather than the stronger but possibly more controversial ones. It was a poor result on the night, but the best for the overall show - 4/5

Friday 7 August 2009

Watched yesterday

Dexter: About Last Night - 4/5

House: The Greater Good - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 62 - 5/5

Skins: Episode 3.6 - 3/5

Big Brother: Day 63 - 4/5

Thursday 6 August 2009

Watched yesterday

Dexter: The Damage A Man Can Do - this Miguel Prado storyline isn't convincing me and the Skinner one isn't particularly interesting, yet still I'm enjoying this season. Go figure! - 4/5

Coast: Cork To Dublin - 3/5

Wainwright Walks: Coast To Coast: Eden and the Pennines - 4/5

Dragons' Den - 4/5

Links of the day

Matt Turland is sceptical about the Notts County takeover. Gary Andrews previews the upcoming League Two season. Mail Online has Sven starting work.

Channel 4 axe News At Noon and More 4 News.

Martin Sweeney says ITV are looking a last-minute sale of Friends Reunited, possibly seeing Genes Reunited to Ancestry.com.

John Patterson goes behind the scenes of Entourage. Apparently 'Turtle' and Jamie-Lynn Sigler are dating in real life, which I find rather heartwarming.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Wednesday 5 August 2009

Watched yesterday

Dexter: Easy As Pie - 4/5

The Hotel Inspector: Swan Hotel, Harleston - such a weird programme this. It's possible to tell if it's going to be any good within the first 2 minutes - 2/5

Big Brother: Day 60 - 3/5

You've Been Framed! - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 61 - 4/5

Tuesday 4 August 2009

Links of the day

IGN has posters for the new Bruce Willis film, Surrogates.

Mihir Bose unexpectedly quites the BBC, seemingly for 'family reasons'.

James Forsyth on the devaluation of Stephen 'Rent-A-Quote' Pound.

Contact Music reports that Rosamund Pike has forgiven Joe Wright for calling off their wedding. It still baffles me (and Rosamund) as to why he did that. Note to new readers: I cover Rosamund here as she's the reason why I got involved with the Old Vic.

Bill Clinton takes a trip to, err, North Korea.

Magpie Sam rounds-up Notts County's summer signings.

Fraser Nelson catches Ed Balls telling another porkie.

Cranmer takes the Tories to task over their candidate selection procedure.

Richard Jolly looks ahead to the new League Two season, with particular reference to Notts County.

FAIL Blog has an MRI fail. Mail Online has a Ryan O'Neal fail.

Denis MacShane thinks it's time Britain's left became a bit more critical of Hugo Chavez.

Kathryn Jean Lopez on same-sex marriage and Carrie Prejean as a "face of tolerance".

Civitas Institute announces Carrie Prejean as a speaker at their Conservative Leadership Conference next month.

Quint has a short chat with James Cameron about 3-D and Avatar.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Avatar poster

James Cameron returns with his first feature since Titanic. Opens in the UK on 18th December.

Watched yesterday

House: Big Baby - 4/5

The Trouble With Girls: Jailbirds - 3/5

Monday 3 August 2009

A prayer before dying

There's a short item in today's Guardian concerning a Wisconsin man who has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide after the death of his daughter.

The man, 47 year-old Dale Neumann, decided that rather than seek medical help when his daughter, 11 year-old Madeline, was unable to walk, talk eat or drink, he would pray to G-d for a cure instead.

Now I'm all for prayer and believe it can have a positive influence on the sick, but really now, the chances of G-d miraculously curing your daughter's undiagnosed diabetes are pretty slim.

What's all the more infuriating is that G-d has already answered this guy's prayers in advance. He made man inquisitive, knowledge seeking and self-preserving. This ultimately led to medicine, doctors, surgeons. G-d gave man the freedom, ability and intelligence to solve his own problems. If your car has broken down, do you pray for G-d to fix it? Of course not.

Neumann said at the trial...

If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before G-d.

What a pity he didn't realise G-d put doctors and their gift of healing before him and if only he would have taken advantage of them his daughter may well still be alive today.

Watched yesterday

Dexter: Turning Biminese - 4/5

Dexter: Si Se Puede - 4/5

Revelations: Divorce Jewish Style - 3/5

Rivers With Gryff Rhys Jones: North - 3/5

Big Brother: Day 59 - 4/5

Links of the day

TMZ has the greatest house ever sold.

Katy Perry has a good body, but it's a shame that she only has one song that anyone remembers.

FAIL Blog has a braille FAIL.

There, I Fixed It has a nice new storm door.

Ben Bradshaw interferes with the BBC again but, Mail Online, what on earth is that third paragraph doing there?

Harriet Harman doesn't believe that men can be left to run things on their own, managing to both denegrate men and patronise women at the same time. Cranmer weighs in on the matter, as does Iain Dale.

Melon Farmers reports on some Lords trying to thwart the government's plans to reclassify lap-dancing clubs as 'sex encounter establishments.

Guido Fawkes on a not-so-sweet legal threat to Quentin Letts.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Sunday 2 August 2009

Leslie Bibb 'besieged'

Meet The Famous has a few photos of Leslie Bibb being 'besieged' by fans on her way to the G-Force after-party.

'Besieged' is a bit over the top judging by the photos as there looks to be about five fans there. One did have a photo of Leslie though, which is kind of weird as she isn't in the film, so they must have been hanging around with the photo on the off-chance Leslie made an appearance. How likely was that?

Anyway, the photos seem to indicate she blew off (so to speak) the autograph hunters. I have visions of that girl spending years hanging out at random locations, clutching onto her photo, waiting for Leslie to appear, only for the Bibbster to completely blank her. You FAIL girl!

*Dan gently strokes his eight autographed photos of Leslie*

Edit: 3rd August. Just discovered that Leslie's boyfriend, Sam Rockwell, is among the voice cast so it was indeed a fair bet on the part of anonymous photo girl that Leslie would be at the premiere. Doh is me.

Watched yesterday

Dexter: All In The Family - 4/5

You've Been Framed! - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 58 - 3/5

Same-sex marriage and the Quakers

The following is a response to this article by Anna Raccoon, following the decision of the Quakers to support same-sex marriages...

To me, the purpose of marriage is to foster stronger family units, as strong families form the foundation of strong societies, therefore it’s logical that the state facilitate marriages.

As we live in a secular society it’s only right that the civil institution of marriage should not be encumbered by religious ideology, so there seems to be no real reason to prohibit same-sex marriage as the objections to it are overwhelmingly religious in nature.

I say this as a Noachide – a non-Jewish believer in Torah – and someone who actually does believe, for religious reasons, that marriage should only be between a man and a woman.

I have the freedom to worship G-d as I choose to precisely because I live in a secular society that guarantees religious freedom. The trade-off is that that society will, from time-to-time, adopt practices, laws and so forth that clash with my faith.

I have no right to impose my beliefs on others and it would be pointless to try. You can’t coerce people into sharing your beliefs or legally impose beliefs upon them. You have to do it through debate and the strength of your arguments.

As to whether or not the Quakers are right to support same-sex marriage, that’s up to them. I have to admit to knowing little about the Quakers, so I can’t really judge the decision against any knowledge of Quaker beliefs. That said, there does seem to be a broad ‘church’ of opinion among Quakers on many matters of faith, so I guess it’s up to individual Quakers to decide whether or not the decision sits well with their own convictions.

Saturday 1 August 2009

Links of the day

Catwalk Queen notes Alice Dellal has been signed to Next Models, days after being dropped by Select. Why do I care? I'm a Dellal fan. She's purty.

MsGerrard reports on Friday night's draw between Notts County and a Liverpool XI.

Access Hollywood talk to Carrie Prejean about the possibility of legal action against the Miss California organisation.

Got a link you think I might find interesting? Tweet @danbrusca or drop me an email.

Obama advisor calls Carrie Prejean a dog

Obama advisor David Axelrod compared Carrie Prejean to a dog, an absurd statement when she's clearly beautiful by any objective measure. Fox News ride to the rescue once again...

Watched yesterday

Dexter: The Lion Sleeps Tonight - 4/5

Big Brother: Day 56 - 4/5

Entourage: One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car - 4/5

Torchwood: Children of Earth: Day Three - 5/5

Big Brother: Day 57 - 4/5

WTA Bank Of The West Classic: Serena Williams v Sam Stosur - 3/5

Links of the day

Carrie Prejean considers suing the Miss California organization. If she feels she's been treated badly then I fully support any potential proceedings. She's also brave to even consider it knowing that, as ever, she'll be abused for standing up for what's right. May not make it to court however, as Miss Prejean has entered pre-litigation to try and sort it all out before going to court.

AllRise lets you decide who you believe.

Christopher Rosen wonder if Jon Hamm's success could damage Mad Men's Don Draper.

Owen Gibson takes a look at ESPN's latest foray into the UK, this time with Premier League football. I actually signed up to ESPN today, after getting angry with their less-than-intuitive website. I was a Setanta subscriber until earlier this year, but ditched it as I just wasn't watching any football. However, I'm keen to watch more this season, hence my signing-up. Wonder if the subscription work on multiroom? Setanta's didn't, which was annoying.

Helena Vandyk approves of Sven Goran Eriksson's move to Nottingham.

Marcus and James are walking the length of Britain with a fridge (each).

Peter Hoskin looks at Paul Richards' analysis of Labour's Norwich North by-election defeat.

Anna Pickard on the "Wonder Women: Female Power Icons In Pop Culture" panel at Comic-Con,

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