This Is Tomorrow

[alexsarll]

It's remarkably civilised of ITV to put all their halfway-watchable shows in the same 90 minute block. Secret Diary of a Call Girl was always borderline, and now they're deviating from the book even more, not just normalising Belle but embroiling her in lamely generic plots about proteges and politicians - plus, the director seems increasingly inept at hiding the use of body doubles. Nonetheless, it's better than anything else ITV squeeze out, or would be if tomorrow it weren't followed by the debut of No Heroics. I haven't seen it yet, but it stars Nathan Barley and James Lance and is set in a pub for off-duty superheroes where the drinks include V For Vodka and Shazamstell, and thus even with ITV's reverse Midas touch in the equation, it basically can't fail. Then after that, Entourage, which is still ludicrous fluff, and still utterly wonderful. No need to check the rest of the schedules! And no need to bother with ITV1 at all, thank heavens.

How can people say there are no good band names left in a world with Adebisi Shank? If you don't agree, you presumably haven't seen Oz, and if you haven't seen Oz, that's between you and your conscience.

As much as I love Saint Etienne, neither of the times I've seen them before convinced me. But context counts for a lot; they're the sound of London on a good day, of the retro-futuristic spirit that gave the city things like the South Bank. So walking down from Bloomsbury and through the Thames Festival, with its gay Aztecs and giant butterflies and Lithuanian folk-dancers, and the show being in the Queen Elizabeth Hall (where Sarah incites quite the most polite insurrection I've ever seen, encouraging dancing in the aisles)...it helps them make sense live like they do on record. And well done Heavenly for managing to turn the foyer into a plausibly clubby space, too.
It was a strange weekend; even more than usual I was beset by the mutterings of whichever church father it was who lamented "Oh, that we had spent but one day in this world thoroughly well." Not that I think his idea of time well spent would have much in common with mine, but that line haunts me nonetheless. And this in spite of participating in a sitcom read-through accompanied by experimental booze science, getting some sewing done which I'd been putting off for months, a wonderful birthday dinner for a dear friend on Saturday...not such a wasted weekend as all that, but at my back I always hear, &c. There's a thought - the Marvell expert was out on Saturday, maybe it was his fault.
Oh, and sun dogs! Perfect examples, on the very day when I'd been reading the chapter of The Cloud-Spotter's Guide about them. While admiring which I was accosted by two antipodeans who wanted to borrow my mobile in exactly the sort of scenario which could have been a scam - but wasn't, thus restoring some fragment of my faith in humanity.

Speaking of faith in humanity - I enjoyed John Scalzi's future war novel Old Man's War, but thus far I like the sequel The Ghost Brigades even better. Partly this is because it answers some niggling questions I had about the setting - questions which weren't explicitly set up as mysteries and could simply have been inconsistencies. But more than that for its sheer ruthlessness, its recognition that when faced with a populous and implacable galaxy, humanity's greatest resource is that we are utter bastards. Of course, this is also why in reality, and even in my very favourite fiction, I would much rather we were just used as attack dogs in a galactic civilisation run by something halfway civilised, because the idea of trusting us to run the show is terrifying. But for the odd pulp thrill, Humans Versus The Galaxy has its charms.
(You might not expect a segue from that to the Lib Dem conference. But when Nick Clegg, name notwithstanding, says "most people, most of the time, will do the right thing"...I wonder whether he's grown up with the same human race I have, and even more than with his plans for tax cuts, I fear that his party is just too far away from anything I believe nowadays for me to vote for them in good conscience. On the other hand, he's dead right about the zombies and the Andrex puppy)

Comments

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

I do believe that most of the time most people intend to do the right thing. I have met some people who I would call intrinsically evil who do the wrong thing intending to do the wrong thing, for personal gain, and I have met some people who are not intrinsically evil, who do the wrong thing when they know it's the wrong thing because they can't face the consequences to themselves of doing the right thing; there are more of these than the former. I still believe, however, that there are more people who will intend to do the right thing than there are people who will intend to do the wrong thing.

Intending to do the right thing is different from actually doing the right thing, thobut.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I would agree with you that very few people are deliberately and consciously evil. But leaving aside even the damage done by people who think they're good guys (in which category I include most of the great monsters of history), I think that most people, most of the time, will do the easiest thing, whether that be dropping their litter on the floor, or not pressing the button on the pelican and then holding up traffic by walking across against the flow.

[juggzy.livejournal.com]

I think that most people, most of the time, will do the easiest thing, whether that be dropping their litter on the floor, or not pressing the button on the pelican and then holding up traffic by walking across against the flow.

I'm not even sure of that. That's little evil; the day to day drip of thoughtlessness that makes a temporary inconvenience to oneself of more importance than a greater inconvenience to other people, just because you can do the short term thing. I think that most people - teenagers, anyway - will forgo the temporary short term convenience if they are convinced of the larger term effects of the inconvenience to others. But then, I do like teenagers. On the whole they have an unsullied morality; it may not be a morality that we ascribe to, but within their different ways of viewing the world they will forgo short term convenience to prevent longer term inconvenience if they realise that the one causes the other. Education and helping them think through consequences is the key.

And that's the point, really. Most people end up doing the wrong thing because they don't realise that it's the wrong thing.

There's probably a sort of sliding scale somewhere that related the amount of short term convenience that people will forgo for different amounts of long term inconvenience if they have thought through the consequences.

I think most people end up doing the wrong thing because they don't realise it's the wrong thing.

Then of course, there's the whole debate as to what we mean by the 'right' thing and the 'wrong' thing. Clegg should probably be taken to task for his ambiguity for the sake of a sound bite as much as anything else.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

It is certainly the case that, in my experience, apparently sullen youths are at least as likely to be helpful, get out of people's way or what-have-you as outwardly respectable adults, if not more so. But isn't that itself a worrying trend, if people are actually getting worse as they get older? It makes sense, though - the more tired you get, the more evidence you see that virtue is not rewarded and vice not punished, the more inclined you become to say, 'fuck it'.

And yes, as to what we mean by the 'right' thing...well, the people with all the moral fervour are mostly the ones who are morally fervent about killing gays, banning abortions, cleaning up the airwaves or whatever. All blissfully certain that they're the good guys, of course. Meanwhile, liberalism sits paralysed by the fear of seeming judgmental. Or as a wise man once put it, "the best lose all conviction; the worst are full of passionate intensity". His only mistake being, failing to remind us that the worst don't think of themselves as the worst - if anything, it's the self-doubting best who do that.

[cappuccino-kid.livejournal.com]

Pelican crossings have buttons?!?

[augstone.livejournal.com]

oh man, i had no idea you were going to see st. et. i found out too late and it was already sold out except for wheelchair access seats. i thought about faking it...

[puzzled-anwen.livejournal.com]

I think they might notice when you, er, turned up without a wheelchair. "It's a miracle!" probably wouldn't wash either ;)

[augstone.livejournal.com]

i was going to rent one for the evening ; )

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I didn't know I was going myself until fairly late on, when darkmarcpi kindly offered me his +1!

[msdaccxx.livejournal.com]

God, Oz was never the same after Adebisi got shanked.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

But part of its charm was never knowing who was going to survive, and larger-than-life though Adebisi was, it would have been cheating to let that equate to outright invulnerability. I thought the story they managed to spin out of its effect on Karim was brilliant.

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Sundogs are much less 'doggy' than I expected. I am considering never voting again tbh. I am gonna run away from a horse or something in protest at being given the ability to vote for such wretches. :(

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I think if there were little fluffy doggies in the sky, it might be harder to explain with reference to ice crystals...

That sounds like a good protest. Maybe I should film it given great-grandfather got the footage of the original...

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Maybe. Or not. You know he doesn't have copyright on youtube? ;)

*pokes alex in nose*

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

It was agency work, clearly he wouldn't have the copyright!

[pippaalice.livejournal.com]

Apart from the fact he has been dead many years? I was being silly. Pfft.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Well the agency could still have put it on Youtube, that is pretty much what agencies do!

[shewho.livejournal.com]

best.band.name.ever.com.

are they any good though? i have no sound right now.

it has been amusing me to see so many familiar oz types pop up in the wire.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I have no idea, I almost don't want to risk spoiling the name by listening to them, and in the meantime I've not had chance.

A lot of the crossovers I can take in my stride, because the actor will play a dodgy crim who ends badly in both shows. The ones that throw me are Cedric (you can't make him chief! He's a junkie!) and of course Carmela Soprano as a hard-bitten screw.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i did like the andrex puppy line, not so much the rest of it (in terms of oratory)

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I don't think even Clegg's biggest fans could claim that he's an Obama-level master of public speaking, could they? Still, when the competition's Brown, even Mark E Smith could look like Cicero if you squinted.

[sbp.livejournal.com]

V for Vodka. Arf.