You can't tell me I'm the first general to get confused over which my army was

[alexsarll]

I've not been to a zoo since I was a tiny, and dimly remember them as a bit of a dispiriting experience. But having finally visited London Zoo, the vast majority of the animals there seemed reassuringly happy, or at worst indolent rather than stressed; animals from the park next door were also showing a vote of confidence, with their heron coming to hang out with the zoo's penguins (whose most prolific egg-layer is called Stuart), and pigeons sat in the okapis' feed trough. They also have what could easily feel like an excessive amount of monkeys, if monkeys weren't so awesome (especially the tamarin which made an escape effort it hadn't really thought through). Plus butterflies! Burrowing owls! And an ibis, which I recognised because it had the same shaped-head as Thoth. Much the same sort of set-up as they used in the new series of Primeval, in fact, except that here the animal-looking-like-an-Egyptian-god thing seemed to be a bit more of an effort to re-angle the series towards dinosaurs-as-source-of-myths - presumably a focus group told them that they needed a bit of mysticism in with the (pseudo)science. It's a shame, they seem to be retooling too many things at once and not really getting any of them right yet; the chemistry's off with Steven gone, the new young male lead is astonishingly blank, and Cutter's new hair is just wrong. I fear the Curse of ITV could have claimed their last decent terrestrial show.
(Not entirely convinced by the Skins finale either. Super Hans as a parent? Dear heavens)

In top North London news, "Much-missed Islington venue The Garage is to be re-opened after a not inconsiderable refurb in June this year, as part of MAMA Group and HMV's previously reported joint venture, which is operating under the Mean Fiddler name in corporate terms, but which brings the HMV brand into the live space as far as the sign above the door is concerned." Let's hope it won't have lost all its old charm in the branding frenzy - that used to be one of my favourite venues. Or two if you count Upstairs.

Oh, and anyone who's somehow managed not to watch The Wire yet and wants to see what all the fuss is about - it starts on BBC2 tonight. I thought that the model of pay TV shows turning up on terrestrial a bit later was dead in the age of the DVD box set, but apparently not; there's an episode per week-night for the next three months.

Comments

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Hang on, holidays with lions and drowning - you know about 'The Lion and Albert', right? If not, here's Jarvis reading it (http://www.gigwise.com/videos/27982/Jarvis-Cocker---The-Lion-And-Albert).

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure - that whole album was pretty messed up. Especially Bonny Prince Billy singing 'Puff the Magic Dragon'.

[renegadechic.livejournal.com]

completely irrelevant here, but i'm all over london on wednesday with a travel card so would you like me to come to your nearest tube place with the first half of BSG season 4?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

That would be grand, thanks! What sort of itinerary have you got? I was thinking of maybe popping in to town to see if there are any riots to watch, but I've no firm plans.
Might be simpler to do this by email, mightn't it, come to think of it. I'm on alexsarll at gmail dot com

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

it's been too long, eh?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Everyone thinks of Barden's as impossibly remote, though - the Garage is right opposite a Tube stop. Albeit one for a line which tends to close in the evenings and at weekends.

[icecoldinalex.livejournal.com]

when we played Barden's a rat ran across the dance floor and into the DJ booth - whereupon it promptly vanished! It was amazing, it did a bouncy squirrel run and everything!

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

It's nice to know that after so long restricting himself to photography, Jim now DJs too.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can walk there, and it's not really that remote from public transport, but getting people along is more about perception than reality, isn't it?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

"With the addition of a new seated format we can really stretch the scope of the venue's capability to offer and deliver a real alternative to venues such as Bush Hall and make it look a bit less empty for quiet weeknight shows".

[missfrost.livejournal.com]

To paraphrase the TV guide in the Mail (it was free and I have no Guide this week, ok?) if the Beeb are so chuffed to be bringing The Wire to a wider terrestrial audience, why the hell are they putting it on so late?

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Because if it were on any earlier, the Mail would probably be first in line to whinge about how all this profanity and drugs use was being flung in the face of Britain's tots.

[missfrost.livejournal.com]

Point. But I'll again be missing it ftb work. And one a week would be catch-uppable, but I'm highly unlikely to get round to watching it if it's on every night. BBC fail.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I'm not too keen on the every night model myself, but I can see the appeal given it would otherwise take over a year to get through it. And TBH, given your work isn't everything a bit of a pain in the arse when it comes to scheduling?

[missfrost.livejournal.com]

Well I usually watch one week on catch up, and one 'live' but if I miss one I get a pile up, e.g at the moment I have two Skins to watch at some point.

(Actually the old Heroes set up was useful, with 'next week's episode' following immediately on BBC3.)

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Yes, although for non-BBC channels where I still set the video, the problem there is that you can't really get both without risking losing the end of one or the start of the next.

[despina.livejournal.com]

Last time I went to London Zoo the lion sprayed on me (pressed his arse up against the mesh bit, right opposite me, and totally got me). It was one of the standout moments of my life.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Wow! Did you get any strange reactions from domestic cats on your way home?
He was the other side of a water feature this time - though whether because that's winter quarters (I know this was why we saw no tapirs) or to prevent similar antics in future, I couldn't say.

[despina.livejournal.com]

I had a cat at the time and he freaked out completely when I got home. Poor thing. I had to throw away the top I'd been wearing in the end because he scarpered whenever I tried to wear it subsequently (and maybe I was being fanciful but I thought it still smelt weird even after multiple washes).

I was pregnant at the time and, being a massive hippie, saw it as some kind of bizarre leonine seal of approval for the internal entity. Hence his middle name.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Makes sense!

And given how pervasive the smell of house cats can be, I can well imagine that a lion's would be considerably more so even to our puny human noses, let alone to feline senses.

[despina.livejournal.com]

You are so right! It was WASTED ON ME.

Ahhh I remember the thrill of getting onstage sweat spattering across my face. Never got spit in my mouth accidentally though.

[fivelongdays.livejournal.com]

Crikey, that's good about the Garage. I only ever went to one gig there (Clutch, summer 2000), but it was a decent venue.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had almost given up hope and consigned it to the same file as the husk of the former Powerhaus down the end of my road.