plasticbag.org

All I can say is thank god this month is nearly over. I ran out of money weeks ago and finally get paid tomorrow. Which means I probably have enough money to eat, and to get cable television.

Is it just me that thinks that it’s pretty much impossible to be played by George Clooney in a movie and to be portrayed in a “false and unflattering light”? I can’t helping thinking that such a statement is bordering on the oxymoronic. Nevertheless, the wife and daughters of Captain Frank William “Billy” Tyne (Clooney’s character in The Perfect Storm) are trying to sue the ass off Warner Bros. for exactly that, claiming that the film depicted him as: “emotionally aloof, reckless, excessively risk-taking, self-absorbed, emasculated, despondent, obsessed and maniacal.” [BBC news]

After a very helpful e-mail I have been directed to the Guardian Newspaper’s website in order to find out more about the Have I Got News For You debacle I was discussing yesterday. This particular article [News Unlimited] alleges that a good portion of the transcript is in fact accurate, but that the crucial middle section is a fake:

“Paul Merton is always a man to push the televisual boundaries of libel laws as far as they will stretch but the transcript went a lot further than anything you would have seen on the show. The trouble is – according to sources – a huge chunk of the middle section of the email is fabricated.

In one particularly terse exchange appearing in the “transcript”, for example, Merton supposedly attacks Saville about his personal hygiene. In another, the comedian seemingly loses the plot completely and launches into an incoherent rant before being asked by a rattled Angus Deayton if he wants to stop the recording. ”

Bursting a Meme Bubble: [thanks for linkmachinego for almost everything I am about to write]. In the UK, we have a topical comedy program called “Have I Got News For You”. The show consists of two teams, one headed up each week by Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye, and one headed up by misanthropic comedian Paul Merton. There is an additional celebrity or politician on each team. The show is supervised by Angus Deayton.

Due to the topical nature of the show, and the acerbic wits of a few of the participants in the show (and the fact that Ian Hislop knows altogether too much stuff that goes on behind the scenes in British politics), the show has been savaged a number of times by law suits and claims of defamation of character. It is also, generally, extraordinarily funny.

A few weeks / months ago, an e-mail purporting to be an unedited transcript of one of the shows appeared on the net. It supposedly reported the dialogue that took place between the regulars on the show and Sir Jimmy Saville, a radio DJ with a slightly dubious reputation, who was a guest this week. The e-mail was scandalous in the extreme – incredibly funny (to the point of being scary), and utterly savage. [Read it here or here, but be warned – this is not for the kids].

Anyway. Such a document is clearly legally dubious at best, and since there is no evidence attached to the e-mail, it would seem logical to try to assume that it is entirely spurious as well. (In which case, of course, you would be talking vast potential libel damages.) But the strange thing about this particular meme is that most people who received the letter in question (including me – and I consider to be extremely cynical about chain e-mail) thought it to be at least plausible.

Now the truth of the matter is harder to discern, although through linkmachinego it seems that there are now several other documents on the web which purport to have something to say on the piece. This document, for one, claims responsibility for the writing of the piece in question for one, and claims that it was a parody of a certain journalist rather than an attack on Saville or HIGNFY.

I’m looking for more evidence on the matter in question at the moment. If any of you know of any reputable sites that discuss this matter, I would be really interested in hearing about them: tom%40plasticbag.org.

It’s Mark‘s birthday today. I’m in a bit of a mood with him at the moment (although less so than I am with Kerry) due to an event last night which we won’t go into detail about. Still, it’s not everyday you are sixteen – so congratulations old chap, your present’s in the post…

Fury in W9: The Bank Holiday Weekend was summarily butt-fucked yesterday by Channel 4‘s decision to cancel the second Dawson’s Creek Day. Concerned citizens, when seeking an explanation for this turn of events, were horrified to discover that it had been cancelled so that the cricket, which was cancelled on Saturday due to adverse weather conditions, could now be played on the Sunday. A correspondent for the group, “Damn You Channel 4” had this to say yesterday:

“Mumble mumble mumble….C4 cancels Dawson’s Creek Day to show cricket instead….mumble mumble mumble…this means I have to get out of bed and do something else instead….mumble mumble mumble….” [Not So Soft]

Before wandering down the pub with the authors of plasticbag.org and lukelog.

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I don’t think I’ve ever done this before – I don’t consider myself to be a particularly tacky person – but holy crap is this man gorgeous… I was watching Eurotrash on TV the other day with Kate and Mella and suddenly this incredible creature appeared on screen. There was this collective intake of breath around the room. Kate, without any prompting of any kind, leapt up and wrote down (exactly) his rather complicated name, simply so that we could find something on him on the web. And found something we have. So I’d like to introduce you all to Oliver Bjerrehuus. If you feel you need to get more specifically acquainted, might I suggest you have a look at this picture. I need a cold shower.

I tell you, you leave Katy alone for one minute, and she wanders off to Crete to get completely trolleyed. I don’t know. Young people nowadays…

Well, it’s never going to happen again, so I may as well get a kick out of it while I still can. For (probably) one day only, plasticbag.org is #6 on beebo’s weblog ratings. I’m so pathetic. I can’t believe that matters to me.