However, I really couldn't help boggling at the assertion that showing an R16?

You could possibly do justice to the Matrix films if you related it to advertising sunglasses...

And I spurned the Grapes of Wrath & wrote about The Saint in Miami in?

However, I really couldn't help boggling at the assertion that showing an R16 movie to sixth and seventh-formers was inappropriate.

Indeed. And then they fretted about students watching R18 movies for NCEA, but couldn't cite one. Okay, there might be some 15 year olds doing NCEA level one who also?

Nothing quite like quoting Homer in an essay at Uni, Homer Simpson that is. Pure joy.

Andrew there were never threats of violence at my school. Canning might have been outlawed but?

Nothing quite like quoting Homer in an essay at Uni, Homer Simpson that is. Pure joy.

And I quoted Groucho in an exam (2nd stage english lit) that wanted Timon of Athens described in terms of Marx. "Love flies out the door when money comes innuendo".

Passed too, somehow.

Andrew?

And I quoted Groucho in an exam (2nd stage english lit) that wanted Timon of Athens described in terms of Marx. "Love flies out the door when money comes innuendo".

Anything less than an A+ for that would have been an insult.

And I quoted Groucho in an exam (2nd stage english lit) that wanted Timon of Athens described in terms of Marx.

Good grief. What's next, Titus Andronicus in terms of the Mad Butcher?

On reading my first draft essay on Julius Caeser for Honours, my lecturer asked me if I?

what's the female equivalent of "avuncular?"

Avauntular? Or would that be too literal?

Avauntular?

Priceless.

Anything less than an A+ for that would have been an insult.

Consider me very insulted then. But hey, a pass is a pass, especially when I had sat up all night reading 3 of the 5 shakespearian plays that were going to be examined...

Good grief. What's next, Titus?

Things I wrote about in my English scholarship exam included*: the Baz Luhrman Red Curtains trilogy

Including, one presumes, that glorification of guns, getting stoned while in really bad drag, statutory rape and teen suicide known as... Romeo and Juliet? William Shakespeare is such an emo pervert, but thankfully "too?

Nothing quite like quoting Homer in an essay at Uni, Homer Simpson that is. Pure joy.

Very, very sadly, the Simpsons did not exist when I was actually studying Homer... or perhaps it's just as well, classics tutors are probably well over Homer Simpson quotations in essays on the Iliad.

the Baz Luhrman Red Curtains trilogy

Oooh! Oooh! I've got an essay title for that one: 'How to Make the Same Film Over and Over Again: A Study in the Law of Diminishing Returns'.

(I'm a bit mean to Baz Luhrmann, admittedly. He is talented, but various parts of Moulin?

I also got an A+ for my 20th Century French Philosophy essay that extensively referenced Alan Moore's "Watchmen". Now "Watchmen" – there's literature.

I'm intrigued – how do you work The Watchmen into French Philosophy?

And somehow this exchange from Clueless came to mind during this thread:

Heather: It's just?

I remember struggling with the literature questions in the mock English exams, until someone pointed out to me that "write paragraphs on x in your short story" meant?

It was an epiphany.

Kind of like (not) when with 5 minutes to go I confidently looked back over my questions & answers & discovered that one page was duplex printed & there were 5 extra stanzas from the Fairy Queen that I hadn't considered in my answer & which changed the context considerably.?

I'm intrigued – how do you work The Watchmen into French Philosophy?

The essay was on Camus' notion of the Absurd – the sequence where Rorshach's psychiatrist contemplates his own inkblot test and comes to the realisation that it's just a blob of ink with no meaning other than what?

The essay was on Camus' notion of the Absurd

Actually, that reminds me of another Clueless-like non-sequitur, probably something I read in the Listener years ago – about a woman snubbed at a party for not knowing how to pronounce "Camus", but it turned out that she was the only?

there were 5 extra stanzas from the Fairy Queen that I hadn't considered in my answer & which changed the context considerably.

Andrew, do we have exactly the same degree?

it turned out that she was the only person in the room who'd actually read him

Ah, but did she read?

And I got an A for one on American Psycho, because the lecturer was too squeamish to read the book?

about a woman snubbed at a party for not knowing how to pronounce "Camus"

That must have made her feel like an outsider or even a stranger. (lolz!!!!)

Speaking of books called The Outsider/s, when I was in the 4th form we had a choice of two books and film?

Andrew, do we have exactly the same degree?

Did you get that Fairy Queen question too? English 101 probably hasn't changed since... thinks what was the most contemporary piece... 1929 (The Man WHo Died – DH Lawrence)

That must have made her feel like an outsider or even a stranger. (lolz!!!!)

I have to confess here that all I know about Camus is how to pronounce his name. Oh, and that he was one of the Watchmen.

Cher: Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.

Murray: Woman, lend me fi' dollas.?

]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:26:38 +1300 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74480#post74480 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74480#post74480 Oh... last one.

Cher: It's like that book I read in the 9th grade that said "'tis a far far better thing doing stuff for other people."

]]> Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:29:25 +1300 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74481#post74481 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74481#post74481 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:34:32 +1300 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74484#post74484 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74484#post74484 Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:41:33 +1300 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74490#post74490 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74490#post74490

Things I wrote about in my English scholarship exam included*:

I got there to discover that the kids from Boys' High had boned up on five different books for the exam and seemed to have been in a dedicated scholarship class for half the year.

So I wrote about __Catch?

But I do recall the mock-School Cert English exam when I answered the movie question referencing the Goonies*. We had watched some show about young guys cycling (don't remember what it was called, but it?

Including, one presumes, that glorification of guns, getting stoned while in really bad drag, statutory rape and teen suicide known as... Romeo and Juliet? William Shakespeare is such an emo pervert, but thankfully "too difficult" for the poor lambs.

Indeed, and I'd already studied it at the tender age of?

Did you get that Fairy Queen question too? English 101 probably hasn't changed since... thinks what was the most contemporary piece... 1929 (The Man WHo Died – DH Lawrence)

Ah, Faerie Queen was ENGL 2-whatever Ren Drama was. 101 I can't remember the poetry but the novels were Heart of?

In fact, the most complaints I ever heard along that score were about Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar"

Really! It has been a long while since I read that but I remember being pretty disturbed by it. In fact, I think it is actually the most disturbing thing I have?

I also got an A+ for my 20th Century French Philosophy essay that extensively referenced Alan Moore's "Watchmen". Now "Watchmen" – there's literature.

And soon it will be a movie. So all those who can?t be bothered reading all those pesky words in the comic book can just watch it?

Cher: Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value.

That's a pretty awesome line, I must say.

When you get to my age you forget what being disturbed is.

I thought I might have become disturb-proof in my thirties, having written some pretty squicky things. So I reread The Wasp Factory. You can tell people who've read that by how they react to the phrase 'the bit?

The photo of him (Iain Banks) on the cover shows an angst-ridden young man, very intense. By the time you get to later books, like Whit, there's a much more relaxed shot of a genial, laughing man.

I still think his?

various parts of Moulin Rouge made me want to stab someone with Nicole Kidman's clavicle.

Please do elaborate, Danielle..

The Wasp Factory would make a great?

In fifth form we studied Bub Bridger who never?

Please do elaborate, Danielle...

Oh Sacha. Are you sure you want to start me down this road? ;)

I wish to stress that I *love* musicals. There is nothing more delightful to me than someone on a soundstage bursting into a tune or doing some nifty dance. (Tap shoes are?

Generally, the whole film seemed totally overwrought, but I remained utterly unmoved. It was pretty-looking, melodramatic... and empty. And I liked the first two in the trilogy quite a lot, and there was all that 'he's revitalised the musical!' talk, and I was rather looking forward to it. So... meh.?

It's a shame that the intense guy wrote funnier (if undeniably nastier and sometimes rather unpleasant) novels. I often wonder when was the exact point his prose became so flat and the characterisation so bland, because his early work is fantastically vicious stuff.

I've not read anything later than WHIT,?

I did like his travelogue about whisky in Scotland, though.

Really? I thought it was in dire need of a good hard edit, a real potboiler, oh well I've given thousands of quid to write a book, better crank one out, the fans will buy it anyway.

Why is the Bell Jar disturbing but Hamlet isn't?

I actually think both are enormously disturbing, but for different reasons. I know there are certain quarters where I'll be spat on as a misogynistic patriarch for this, but I loathe Sylvia Plath (and Robert Lowell and the rest of the?

In fact, the most complaints I ever heard along that score were about Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", which I lucked out of but various classmates didn't. The general opinion was that it was just really bloody depressing.

Heh... I came to the conclusion that there is some hope for?

I did like his travelogue about whisky in Scotland, though.

Really? I thought it was in dire need of a good hard edit, a real potboiler, oh well I've given thousands of quid to write a book, better crank one out, the fans will buy it anyway.

To be fair,?

]]> Tue, 21 Oct 2008 09:06:53 +1300 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74570#post74570 http://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/up-front-a-word-from-the-ministry-for-learning/?p=74570#post74570

Really? I thought it was in dire need of a good hard edit, a real potboiler, oh well I've given thousands of quid to write a book, better crank one out, the fans will buy it anyway.

To be fair, I bought a new copy of it for $10 discounted?

The trouble I have with Banks's latest work is that less seems to be at stake, somehow. I'm not sure how to articulate this--but his worlds seem flatter.

Indeed. I also wonder if it's because Banks is getting a teeny tad preachy in his middle-age: transnational corporations are evil, though?

Indeed. I also wonder if it's because Banks is getting a teeny tad preachy in his middle-age: transnational corporations are evil, though not quite as evil as their tame warmongering bitch of the KKKristian Reich Chimpy McBushitler. Even if you're in total agreement with the sentiment, why does the storytelling?

Really? I thought it was in dire need of a good hard edit

Yeah, I enjoyed it overall but I do remember thinking that by page 49 we shouldn't still be pondering the view of the top of his Land Rover from the upper deck of the ferry, and should?

Indeed. I also wonder if it's because Banks is getting a teeny tad preachy in his middle-age

Yeah could be. See, I know The Wasp Factory was about things like sexism and religion, but there was nothing remotely preachy about it. And in his science fiction stuff (the ones I've?

That said, to this day I have not seen Goonies, and answered the question based on the incomplete set of bubblegum cards my sister had been given by someone.

See. I answered a first year history exam question on Israel/Palestine based on my memory of covering the topic in 5th?

MR was cutcutcutcutcut and it pissed me off. I felt as though Luhrmann was artificially manufacturing the excitement generated by wonderful musical numbers where none really existed.

Danielle, ta for the elaboration. I don't like musicals at all (never got through more than ten minutes of Oz or Sound o?

Rome + Juliet was fitfully inspired, and largely ambitious, but often overreaching- I wasn't totally convinced by the whole 'Bard goes pop' gambit

Hell I was, Matthew. Would actually rate the first ten minutes as some of the best moviemaking I've ever seen. It struck me that if Shakespeare were?

I'd say that Song of Stone was where he lost me as an ardent fan. Up till then he was engaging and the characters were believable but Song of Stone just seemed as flat as the proverbial pancake.

His sci-fi ouevre has become?

Rome + Juliet was fitfully inspired, and largely ambitious, but often overreaching- I wasn't totally convinced by the whole 'Bard goes pop' gambit

I was more underwhelmed by the "nobody in the cast knows — or cares — what iambic pentameter is, let alone knows how to speak it". I?

Well, I'd concede the first ten minutes were something else, it's the rest of the film I felt was all over the place

It might have something to do with the fact that Romeo and Juliet is not, contrary to what I was told in high school English, the 'greatest?

I was more underwhelmed by the "nobody in the cast knows — or cares — what iambic pentameter is, let alone knows how to speak it".

So true – Pete Postlethwaite turns up as the priest and just shows the young yanks how it's done.

Deborah, even if you're not much into sci fi, Use of Weapons is a must. I think its his best book in or out of genre.

For me the characterisation and background is good, but his plots do seem to lose direction sometimes.

I loved the whisky book though. It's not really a book about?

Why is the Bell Jar disturbing but Hamlet isn't?

I actually think both are enormously disturbing, but for different reasons. I know there are certain quarters where I'll be spat on as a misogynistic patriarch for this, but I loathe Sylvia Plath (and Robert Lowell and the rest of the?

Small world. There was a biography of Assia Wevill a few years back — and at the risk of sounding like I'm pissing on the grave of a deeply troubled woman, would anyone really give a shit if she hadn't been one of Ted Hughes many mistresses and part?

If you spent years 14-18 reading aspirational novels then end up on the outside you might want some chump change?

Espedair St anyone ?

I also wonder if it's because Banks is getting a teeny tad preachy in his middle-age: transnational corporations are evil, though not quite as evil as their tame warmongering bitch of the KKKristian Reich Chimpy McBushitler.

Really? I thought Banks was pretty good for that; Dead Air and __The Business__?

SF people think his SF is far better SF than his lit-fic is lit-fic.

"lit-fic" ?

Sounds vaguely... rude.

Anyway, his SF is as literary as his "lit-fic" (and surely more literally literary than the aforementioned Watchmen).

Deborah, even if you're not much into sci fi, Use of Weapons is a must. I think its his best book in or out of genre.

I do read sci-fi, but Iain M Banks doesn't do it for me. Neither does Terry Pratchett, or the Discworld stuff (Larry Niven?). I?

And I just don't get the Culture at all.

Who would have thought genuine post-scarcity societies would be... well, quite so dull? :)

It didn't matter so much (I'd just been offered my start in journalism), but I pulled a 49, which was quite pleasing.

Hmm. Spooky.

I did similar for Seventh form economics. Got the letter saying I'd been accepted for the journalism course the morning of the exam: told my mum?

Never could abide Shakespeare – except when someone with a gorgeous voice and impeccable delivery is doing the talking.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren.

They could make the telephone book sound wonderful.

Our English teacher, who was a wonderful woman, and with?

Really? I thought Banks was pretty good for that; Dead Air and The Business were quite good at talking about corporation without just saying they're evil.

Use of Weapons isn't as good as Player of Games, though

Loved The Crow Road, Dead Air was OK but didn't grip me the?

I'm certainly no fan of Hughes' work — and from what little biography I've read, not sure I'd have liked the man much either --

While I'm sure he'd make a lousy imaginary friend, it was Ted Hughes's rather slight The Iron Man that inspired Brad Bird's delightful 1999 movie?

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan and Helen Mirren.

They could make the telephone book sound wonderful

Yes, indeed. And Alan Rickman. Sigh, i suppose it's just some ancient, genetic thing that makes velvet-wrapped gravel voices so seductive.

Do any schools link study courses in English/literature and history. I would have loved to study some good relevant fiction alongside learning the social/political history.

Don't think so, but I might be wrong. I've run English and History papers alongside at uni – all this talk about Plath reminds me?

This thread makes me think we should have a nerdy Public Address book club. There seems to be a common enough core of interest (if Ian Banks is a decent touchstone), and if we can all have civil discussions about politics, why not about books?

I'm very much in favour?

And while we're at it (men with luv-er-ly voices, that is), Jeremy Irons.

God, yes. I refrained from mentioning Jeremy Irons myself becoz people often go "ugh, no!" But a few years ago, Kim Hill interviewed him and I was transfixed by this divine voice hypnotising me with tales of?

My ahem...O level physics exam was characterised by a series of notable events:

i) Beefy Botham beating the heck out of the Aussies yeah !?

Part of me wants to tear out the review and mail it to my?

And while we're at it (men with luv-er-ly voices, that is), Jeremy Irons.

Though I know one or two women who found him a damn less yummy after seeing David Cronenberg's __Dead Ringers__ — in which he played identical twin gynecologists who have **issues** involving (this being Cronenberg after all)?

Never could abide Shakespeare – except when someone with a gorgeous voice and impeccable delivery is doing the talking.

As part of Shakespearean lit, we were treated to a screening of the highly regarded Russian version of Hamlet

As the film started, it became clear that the print we were?

And really, while I endured 45 minutes or so, and many in the class stayed to the bitter end, I couldn't help questioning the use of seeing Hamlet in Russian to teach us the richness of the play, couldn't they find a silent version or something?

Well, if you wanted?

I couldn't help questioning the use of seeing Hamlet in Russian to teach us the richness of the play, couldn't they find a silent version or something?

There are plenty of those of course, but what's the difference between a silent version and a version in a language you don't?

It isn't the best Hamlet I've seen – that would be Olivier's, if you subtracted Olivier's own uber-narcissistic acting

You should try Olivier's __Othello__ — that masterpiece of bootblack camp. (Though Maggie Smith's Desdemona is a reminder that she wasn't always the go to dame for period battle axes of?

And if you're interested, Kurosawa also

Yep, seen 'em all. :) (except The Hidden Fortress, which was remade as Star Wars (for real), I have it on DVD to get to sometime soon)

There are plenty of those of course, but what's the difference between a silent version and a?

I have actually seen a silent version in which Hamlet was a woman (possibly swedish, I can't find a link)

Sarah Bernhardt, possibly?

You should try Olivier's Othello — that masterpiece of bootblack camp. . . I think the kindest thing you can say about that particular performance is *cough* it hasn't dated well.

Maybe it's Olivier's kaftan and oversized tacky stage-bling, but it's a bit spooky how much this overhyped 60s?

This one

Though Maggie Smith's Desdemona...

Argh! I never made the connection that it was that Maggie Smith.

Argh! I never made the connection that it was that Maggie Smith.

I know what you mean – I still can't get my head around the idea that Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to?

Argh! I never made the connection that it was that Maggie Smith.

oh yes

Mind you, on this sort of thing, I recall being amused that in Polanski's MacBeth, Doyle from The Professionals played Banquo.

Mmmmm.... Francesca Annis

Yes, indeed. And Alan Rickman.

And while we're at it (men with luv-er-ly voices, that is), Jeremy Irons.

And now we're heading to a list of Die Hard bad guys.

Yes, indeed. And Alan Rickman.

And while we're at it (men with luv-er-ly voices, that is), Jeremy Irons.

And now we're heading to a list of Die Hard bad guys.

Isn't it odd how the Die Hard movies also suffered from the even-odd problem of the Star Trek franchise?

I'd?

Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret

Really?? Oh, I must do more research about the various stage versions. Issyvoo!

My love for that film is so immense. Baz Luhrmann, take some notes on 'divine decadence' in musical form from Mr Fosse, and get back to?

He plays Vetinari competently in the otherwise awful Colour of Magic?

Isn't it odd how the Die Hard movies also suffered from the even-odd problem of the Star Trek franchise?

Thank you for the opening, Emma.

Karl Urban looks pensive and/or awe-struck

Karl Urban can't decide whether to shell out for the extended warranty on the new IPod.

[[http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20233788_7,00.html|Zachary Quinto has?

I'd recommend fans of Jeremy Irons avoid his craptacular performance in Dungeons and Dragons.

Ah, that was a glorious performance. Some friends and I once devised a scale of scenery-chewingness – it went some like:

1 Jeremy Irons in__ D&D__ = 10 Nick Nolte in Hulk = 100 John Travolta in?

Thank you for the opening, Emma.

Simon Pegg as Scotty! Worth seeing just for that.

Looks appropriately awful though. Hullo bad 1960s Star Trek uniforms :)

Simon Pegg as Scotty! Worth seeing just for that.

Nah. They always try to get you with the alluring casting, like Carell as the titular hero in the awful, awful Get Smart. Wake me up when they cast Pegg as Hamlet. Or Lady Macbeth.

(Oh, also, speaking of pop-cultural things that are hard to fathom: Bob Fosse was one of the backup dancers in the film version of Kiss Me Kate, wasn't he? In pastel tights?)

Yes he was – and starting as he meant to go on, he choreographed the utterly sublime 'From?

Looks appropriately awful though. Hullo bad 1960s Star Trek uniforms :)

Well, I'm ashamed to admit this but J.J. Abrams didn't do a half-bad job with Mission: Impossible 3, and perverse as it may sound it might just be an advantage that Abrams isn't a hard core Trekkie, and can?

Looks appropriately awful though. Hullo bad 1960s Star Trek uniforms :)

OK, fuck *all* y'all (:)), because TOS is clearly the best series by a long, long way, and I include the uniforms in that assessment. Beatle boots on everyone! And Shatner in a gold skivvy with a girdle *totally*?

OK, fuck *all* y'all (:)), because TOS is clearly the best series by a long, long way,

Blasphemer! Perhaps I'm just a nasty ol' bugger, but I'll always be a Deep Space Nine fan — which knocked the clichés of Trek a good hard shake (space station, considerable tension between?

Wake me up when they cast Pegg as Hamlet.

I don't believe they're finished with David Tennant yet.

Simon Pegg as Scotty! Worth seeing just for that.

Looks appropriately awful though. Hullo bad 1960s Star Trek uniforms :)

Yeah, what Danielle said. And Chris Pine has obviously been studying Shatner's?

As part of Shakespearean lit, we were treated to a screening of the highly regarded Russian version of Hamlet

Back in 2000 I went to the Globe in Southwark to see a Brazilian street theatre troup do Romeo & Juliet. It was one of the highlights of my time in London?

Zoe Saldana wonders who thought a mini-skirt and go-go boots were practical for a starship

Aah, but in the early days of space travel, who's to say they weren't? I never once saw Nichelle Nicoles with a ladder in her tights suggesting some sort of low-grav advantages may apply up?

Aah, but in the early days of space travel, who's to say they weren't? I never once saw Nichelle Nicoles with a ladder in her tights suggesting some sort of low-grav advantages may apply up there.

Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel.?

I've been reading through and have loved the sound of the high-literature references as they all went whizzing way over my head...

However one part of a post did strike a chord that I can help with.

@Rachel?

The original miniskirt uniforms, if you look closely, also had built-in matching underwear – a bit like rompers. No random shots of vulva allowed!

Indeed. Also, startling mental image there, thanks.

Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel. Everyone had their feet firmly on the ground throughout.

Ignored...NOT!

I give you the Artificial Gravity Generator (retconned admittedly)

I'm late to this thread as I've been away in the mountains.

We're sick of your excuses.

And just to commit the ultimate Trek heresy, I didn't think Enterprise was that bad

The ultimate Star Trek heresy was that awful song at the beginning. But yeah, it seemed okay otherwise,?

I still can't get my head around the idea that Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

I did not know that.

But Dench is my pick to star if they ever make a biopic about Elton John. They're looking more and more alike. And if?

Star Trek conveniently ignored the absence or variations in gravity inherent in space travel.

Ye cannae ignore the laws of physics!

Because he was the only good thing I remember about that Robin Hood film. Whatsisface...genunine brain fade here and I'm not going to google the bloke...was insipid as Robin Hood.

Marge: "But our happiness was about to unravel, just like Kevin Costner's career, because of the postman."

I still can't get my head around the idea that Judi Dench was the original West End Sally Bowles in Cabaret

Someone loaned me an old video of a (poorly) filmed MacBeth with SIr Ian McKEllern and Dame Judi Dench as Lady Mac.

To be honest, it wasx high tedium,?

Watchmen dialogues

Ye cannae ignore the laws of physics!

As Ron Moore as observed more than once, when it comes to telling the story pretty much every law — natural and otherwise — will be thrown under the bus to make a story work. But I will draw the line at a?

Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

My 3-disc Special Edition boxed set says "Yes".

Who would have thought genuine post-scarcity societies would be... well, quite so dull? :)

Yep, the Culture is only really intersting when it's at war.

I thoght 'Excession' was the last half-interesting book Banks wrote, and it was only half-interesting. Hints of possible civil war within the Culture that I?

My 3-disc Special Edition boxed set says "Yes".

Ahhhhhhh. Snap.

Any 'Spaced' fans lurking?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piDeEwtILFY&NR=1

Not only funny, but terrifyingly accurate.

Ignored...NOT!

I give you the Artificial Gravity Generator (retconned admittedly)

Oh sorry. Magic-box-which-gives-gravity-to-whole-ship then. With tights-don't-ladder-on-our-ship module attached.

No doubt the box took up the whole bottom of the ship, otherwise anyone on the outside of the ship would be pulled towards the middle, where the box was.

I had been ignoring this thread cause I thought I'd be in for all kinds of Code of Conduct/Conflict of Interest problems, and lo and behold it's a comic and sci-fi geek love-in.

My kind of folk!

Oh sorry. Magic-box-which-gives-gravity-to-whole-ship then. With tights-don't-ladder-on-our-ship module attached.

It's not a module, more a way of life.

Holy Shit!

I had been ignoring this thread cause I thought I'd be in for all kinds of Code of Conduct/Conflict of Interest problems, and lo and behold it's a comic and sci-fi geek love-in.

My kind of folk!

Indeed, I think the original topic bit it back on about?

Hah! Dancing Studio Commercial.

Whut? (no I kidz, I noes)

Must be time for loltrek.

I scared the cat, laughing. So very, very funny.

Not only funny, but terrifyingly accurate.

Can't see the clip (no longer available), but that quote more or less sums up the whole show.

Not only funny, but terrifyingly accurate.

So terrifyingly accurate I have trouble watching, much to the fiance's disappointment.

Or possibly Dr Tibby.

goddamnit... now i have to read more banks...