A little fireside chat with Mr Jim, who has some good news about his battles with lung cancer
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 September 2025
MICROGORIA 129 - Autumn Update
A little update on my on-going battles with lung cancer, but this time I have some good news to share!
Sunday, 3 August 2025
MICROGORIA 128 - A Fireside Update
A little chat from the fireside in which Mr Jim updates you all on his battle with the dreaded cancer!
Tuesday, 3 June 2025
FROM THE GREAT LIBRARY OF DREAMS 141 - Some Very Important News
If you missed the announcement on Microgoria yesterday, here it is again for the Great Library folks... Some very important news concerning your host and the future of the show...
Monday, 2 June 2025
MICROGORIA 127 - Very Important News
I have some serious news and it ain't great...
Monday, 27 November 2023
FIRESIDE CHAT - November News
A quick update from the fireside of the Great library of Dreams ...And good news for a change !
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Sunday, 5 March 2023
MICROGORIA 116 - A Quick Chat and Updates
A little chat from the fireside in which we have updates on my on-going health situation and what's coming up in the next month or so on my shows
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Saturday, 31 December 2022
HYPNOGORIA 231 - New Year at the Fireside
Join Mr Jim by the fireside to welcome in the new year!
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - HYPNOGORIA 231 - New Year at the Fireside
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Wednesday, 21 December 2022
MICROGORIA 115 - A Chat by the Fireside
A little pre-Christmas update on various things and a little strange tale too!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Thursday, 21 December 2017
HYPNOGORIA - Goodbye and Hello
And now, the end is near... Yes, that's all folks!
At least from GeekPlanet Online! But fear not, we are moving house as it were and will soon be on Libsyn!
OUR NEW HOME IS AT http://hypnogoria.libsyn.com/
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -
HYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
HYPNOGORIA on iTunes
HYPNOGORIA on STITCHER
 |
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS |
Friday, 24 November 2017
HYPNOGORIA - An Important Announcement
Just a very quick update on the news that Geekplanet Online is closing down and what this means for the podcast!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -
HYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
HYPNOGORIA on iTunes
HYPNOGORIA on STITCHER
|
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS |
Thursday, 6 March 2014
THE BLACK DOG #189 - Brooks Was Here
In this weeks episode Lee, Darren and Jim are joined by Danny Graydon and discuss such diverse subjects as... Essex Gangland, deadly pancake mix, blu ray purchases and Clowns.
Then there's a bit of disheartening interview revelations about Superman vs Batman vs Wonder Woman vs Kramer vs Kramer, some unsubstantiated rubbish about Matrix prequels and some discussion about the Hugos and SFF fans knee jerk reactions to Jonathan Ross.
After a trip to the vegetable patch for this weeks Shitty superheroes and another entry from Jim Moon's profanisaurus, the guys get busy reviewin' or they get busy dyin' as they re-review the classic Shawshank Redemption, with some tourettes help from Morgan Freeman.
Next week is a very different movie when, to coincide with the anniversary of the first radio episode, the guys return to review the movie version of The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy.
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - THE BLACK DOG #189
THE BLACK DOG HOME PAGE & ARCHIVE
THE BLACK DOG on iTUNES
THE BLACK DOG is hosted by GeekPlanetOnline
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Calm Down! It's Not The End of the World! DOCTOR WHO in 2012
Mark Twain once said 'a lie can travel round the world before the truth is still putting its shoes on', and indeed thanks to the internet that is truer than ever before. Just look at the howls of outrage echoing around the digital playground this very morning, with assorted geeks spewing a toxic mix of tears and bile over the 'news' that there won't be a series of Doctor Who in 2012...
...Note the punctuation there folks! This is 'news' not fact. Firstly just last week the BBC announced that it was commissioning 14 new episodes and Matt Smith was contracted to appear in them. And as for today's revelations, the truth of the matter is as follows (quoted from The Doctor Who News Page) -
Speaking at the Church and Media Conference this afternoon, Cohen's comments were relayed via Twitter, with BBC Merseyside's Religious Editor Wayne Clarke reporting: "Danny Cohen says there won't be a full series of Doctor Who in 2012, but a special run for the anniversary in 2013". The BBC's Entertainment Correspondent Liza Mzimba confirmed the comments this evening, adding that other reported comments by Cohen on the decision being made to enable head writer Steven Moffat more time to write his other hit series Sherlock were light-hearted and not meant to be taken seriously.
Now the key phrase here is 'not returning for a full series'. No one is saying the show's on hiatus, or being cancelled. All we know for sure is that there are 14 more episodes on order and that we have no details on how many are going to air in 2012. It's also important to note that Cohen is promising 'a special run' in 2013 which will see the show turning 50.
So before we flood the hospital emergency rooms with injuries caused by excessive knee-jerking, can everyone stop over reacting now?
Yes, I know it's galling to think we may be getting less Who next year, but honestly this isn't a replay of the McCoy years where the BBC sought to smother the show (see here for the full gory story) . Doctor Who is one of its flagship titles, with high audience appreciation scores, and regularly making the top twenty in the weekly ratings, and often the only non soap/reality tosh in the line up to boot. And those figures don not include the iPlayer figures which are extremely sizeable these days. And indeed these large numbers watching on catch-up that don't count towards the ratings score is very significant.
As I have noted before, every year lazy hacks start running stories claiming the show is trouble as the ratings numbers slide as each season progresses and completely fail to note that every damn show on UK TV loses viewers as the summer starts and people are out and about more and off on holidays. But hey, why check the facts when it would kill and easy and attention grabbing story about one of the nation's favourite programme?
Now what we have to remember is that Doctor Who has the Easter to summer slot because before it was brought back to our screens, no one expected it to be the smash hit it is now. Hence it got less than prestigious place in the yearly schedule at a time when audience figures are dwindling across the board.
But now the show is back and has a firm place in the nation's hearts, many fans have been wondering for a while why the BBC hasn't moved the show to a slot later in the year. Aside from the fan perspective that it is inherently wrong to be watching Who with sun streaming in through the windows, it would surely make more sense to screen it in the autumn where the largest audiences roam free. And indeed many, myself included, suspected that Tenant's last year of four specials would provide the break in the established routine to move the show.
However seeing how it is only in the last two years that iPlayer figures have been released alongside the usual ratings and audience appreciation scores, I'm guessing that it is only now that Auntie Beeb's suits can see that the figures swell considerably when catch-up viewers are added and there is proof positive that moving the show to the autumn would pay off in ratings terms.
And a fair number people have wondered whether this year's split season is a bridging mechanism for the change. Of course, we should also remember that this year's format has been heralded as an omen doom by fools who seem to think that two portions of Who with a far shorter gap between TARDIS appearances on our screens is somehow appallingly worse than the nine month wait between series we had since 2005. In the words of the Dalai Lama 'get a f***ing grip'...
Now my reaction to today's news was the notion that Series 7 would be similarly split, but with half airing in the autumn in 2012, then the now traditional Christmas special, and the second half appearing in early 2013. And indeed, this is the plan that is being reported by Bleeding Cool (though where they are getting their information from is open to question).
However this possible schedule would make a lot of sense. To start with Doctor Who would be airing again in the slot the classic series held in its heyday, a return to its ancestral home just in time for its 50th birthday. But the weight of nostalgia and history aside, it would also soaking up the best audiences in the prime viewing slots and get those extra millions watching on iPlayer on the books, not to mention all those who *ahem* video the show via illegal download.
Of course, there may well be budgetary factors in not showing all the 14 slated episodes in 2012 - the current bunch of cut-throats that are masquerading as a government here in the UK are putting the squeeze on the BBC. However Doctor Who is such a big money spinner, not to mention a hit with audiences too, that it's extremely unlikely that executives are plotting the show's downfall.
A longer wait for episodes may well be frustrating but as the year of specials proved, Doctor Who is so well loved it can comfortably survive a break in the usual schedule. And if it means a return to higher ratings pastures, that is only good for both the show itself and the BBC as a whole.
Of course, until there is a further official announcement much of the above is just speculation, but it is far more likely than the paranoid rumours of the series' death. For all this panic about the show disappearing for a year, or that it is in somehow in trouble, are as about as credible as the dubious interpretations of the Mayan calendar that say the world will end in 2012. Unless of course a mass of internet knee-jerk reactions over Doctor Who throw the planet out of orbit...
Don't get me wrong, I love the show to bits and yes, a wait is very annoying, but we shouldn't spin our personal disappointment into some massive disaster or sinister conspiracy. The important facts are that there is at least 14 more episodes to come, and it is a sign of the faith the BBC has in the Doctor Who that this decision has been made so early. Plus they do appear to be planning to mark the anniversary in a big way. So while 2012 may be a little lighter on adventures in the TARDIS, 2013 may well restore the balance.
Right, hope that cleared that up. I'm off for a relaxing pint down my local, The Gillan's Legs... as soon as they open!
Friday, 4 December 2009
OFFICIAL! CHRISTMAS HAS COME EARLY!
Yes! It's really really true! Christmas has come early for cinema lovers everywhere!
In a terrific early present for film fans the world over, today Steven Spielberg has announced that his proposed remake of the Jimmy Stewart classic Harvey will no longer be going ahead. Not delayed, not on the back-burner but gone! Nixed! Cancelled!
Harvey is one of those classic movies that really just shouldn't be remade. Some films are just too iconic, and dare I say it, just too perfect to remake. And even though I'd have rather seen Spielberg in the director's chair than a host of lesser hands for a remake, his tendency to veer into the saccahrine would quite possibly end up replacing the magic and charm of the original with cloyingly sentimentality. Personally, I'd have picked Frank Darabont for the job, with Guillermo del Toro running a close second.
However the decison to not go ahead is the right one - and a wise one. If you are remaking a bona fide classic like Harvey, you either recreate the original or do something new with it. The latter obviously runs the risk of removing everything that makes the original work (see Neil Labute's The Wicker Man, and the former is a pointless exercise (Van Sant's Psycho.
So far, the reasons why Spielberg has decided to drop the Harvey remake have not come to light. But I reckon it went something like this....
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