Campaign 2010

By | October 8, 2010
7 Comments

The story so far:

Kieran Joeseph Jupe:

Meanwhile in Clacton, I asked the guys who made the Cube soundtrack about personal use/release and I got told to ask some other guys. I will keep you posted on progress.

…

‘Dear Kieran,

Thanks for your enquiry.

The Cube music isn’t available commercially I’m afraid and you are the first person who has enquired to be honest. We normally release commercially if we get inundated with enquiries. In the event that we do decide to release the music then I will keep your contact details and notify you accordingly.’

Can everyone email politely sarah@bdimusic.com otherwise it might never happen.

Meanwhile:

Tim:

Done 🙂 Please can everyone else join in? Ask for links to MP3s rather than a CD release (it’ll be less effort for them).

So there you go, I endorse this campaign.

In the meantime, unfortunately I’ve yet to find The Challenge: Cutthroat availiable for download anywhere, but don’t let that stop you. If you’re in the UK download something like Ultrasurf and then go and watch it on the mtv.com site.

The rules of The Challenge change from season to season, this season thirty contestants (as is usual for The Challenge, most of them are previous challengers, or have participated in The Real World or the now defunct Road Rules) are split into three teams. They compete in challenges and live in a big house in Prague, winning a challenge wins $20k for the team’s bank and a lovely prize. Losing a challenge means your team must secretly vote to send one male and female into ‘The Gulag’, a tough (usually) physical competition where one male and one female will be sent home with no money. Anyone left after the ninth week of challenges splits their team’s bank between them, and the survivors compete in one more mega-team-challenge for an additional $120k prize.

Our opening episode had a drunken fight and nudity within the first twenty minutes, a really hard challenge involving cracking codes in rooms filled with tear gas followed by putting together a large 3-D puzzle, followed by a Gulag challenge which was basically pretty hardcore wrestling. Worth a watch.

Show Discussion: The Apprentice 2010

By | October 6, 2010
20 Comments

BBC1, 9pm

Lord Sir Alan Sugar returns with some more people who would like to work for him. It’s interesting that the US show is in the ratings doldrums, yet the UK show seems to go from strength to strength. As I have said previously, The Apprentice is a blind spot for me, so would anyone like to have a guess as to why that might be?

In other news, Bid TV is ten years old today and has a new set and graphics. Years ago when it was Bid-Up TV and acted like a proper auction, I found it majorly addictive to watch – engaging personalities, Peter Simon shouting at viewers and shopping that felt like a gameshow. These days it’s no more than a standard shopping channel with exciting sounding music beds. Still though.

Fun Thing Someone Else Found on Youtube Tuesday

By | October 5, 2010
5 Comments

Yeah why not. I actually saw this a while ago, and was reminded about it by Radinden on Twitter, it’s Princeton vs Agnes Scott Colleges in the General Electric College Bowl from 1966. Here is Part 1, parts two and three are easily found:

Forget the quiz, I’m intrigued by the sponsorship plugs.

Truly what modern University Challenge requires is a return to the good old Gascoigne days of variable bonus questions (I wonder why they were standardized when the show was bought back?) and, of course, Pass the Stick.

If you’re in the UK and you’d like to support The Bar, I’d appreciate it if when you order your things through Amazon, you click the Amazon link in the top left corner, there. You don’t have to buy the item in question, the logo will take you to the front page and I’ll still get a little cut. I’ll have put up £300 in competition prizes this year!

This is basically a roundabout way to advertise something in the US Store, mainly its Deal or No Deal Wii game which offers “1-4 player co-op play”, “upgradable weapons” and “classic 1950s movie locations.” Forget the recent Millionaire revamp, this is the version of Deal we’ve ALL been waiting for!

Teflon Cowell-ted

By | October 4, 2010
24 Comments

Doubtless you will have seen this piece that’s been floating round – The X Factor‘s Katie Waissel was on the books of Sony BMG (the company that Simon Cowell works for) and oh look! She appears to have made the final twelve ahead of several people apparently more talented.

Of course, this should be an outrage. And yet. And yet and yet and yet. Nobody cares because over certain things, people basically secretly enjoy being wound up. It allows them to have an opinion on something, and they’ll keep watching to see precisely how wound up they get, despite protestations that they will never watch again. Also that Simon Cowell is a bit of a bastard isn’t he? That’s exactly the sort of thing we’d expect from him, and so we secretly chuckle along because that’s sort of what we want.

The X Factor has only ever superficially been a singing competition. Sure, the cream rises, but the first six weeks of the live show or so have always really been about the order that never-had-a-chances go out and the SHOCKING DRAMA AND OUTRAGE when they go out in the wrong perceived order. Hint to Fantasy X Factor managers: Like Jedward last year, Katie isn’t going anywhere for a few weeks.

In other news: it’s Only Connect this evening!

In other other news, I’m not entirely sure I can be bothered following The Amazing Race this season. And I’m not really feeling Survivor either. This certainly isn’t the first time I’ve given these shows a break and come back to them seasons later, although I am quite looking forward to following this season of The Challenge. And I have yet to watch last week’s 71 Degrees North. Can anyone give good reasons why I would be wrong to take a break from these shows for the moment?