leytonjay.co.uk

Is Michael Jackson Dead? Yes.

Leyton Jay — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:32:22 +0000

The BBC is reporting that singer Michael Jackson was found by paramedics, not breathing and rushed to hospital earlier tonight.
BBC News - Michael Jackson taken to hospital.

Celebrity gossip site TMZ is reporting that he’s actually dead. And I’ve received several texts on the grapevine tonight saying the same.
Here the link for TMZ which leads with Michael Jackson dies at 50.

In the time it’s taken me to write that, the LA Times are now also reporting that Michael Jackson has died.
LA Times - Michael Jackson is dead [Updated].

I knew he’d never actually perform those 50+ sell-out nights at The O2, I could smell it. But I never imagined it would happen like this

XMPlay Light Weight Music Player For Windows

Leyton Jay — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:27:04 +0000

I don’t know about you but I really cannot stand Microsoft Windows Media Player. It’s soo slow and memory hungry, it can’t burn properly and it’s so hungry to rip music it will usually start ripping it all incorrectly before I can check whats happening. It also has a bizarre stutter at the start of tracks sometimes caused by a memory bottleneck, which just should not happen on a high performance system like mine.

Anyway today I decided to throw in the towel and get a proper music player, I did a bit of Googling and everyone is talking about XMPlay, a free, light weight music player for Windows.

I download XMPlay, it’s absolutely tiny (300kb), it just works straight out of the box, is very configurable but simple also. It understands all the formats you’d expect and more and you can make it look different by downloading different skins.

So, XMPlay is my new favourite thing, get XMPlay Music Player for Windows, it’s such a simple alternative to Media Player that’s far far better.

Download XMPlay

I Am 27 and Terminator: Salvation, Rules!

Leyton Jay — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:59:59 +0000

It’s my Birthday today, it was pretty good! Mum and Dad got me a Chocolate Dalek Birthday Cake from Tesco!

I got on the bus into town early to buy doughnuts and cookies for the office and they’d changed the route so I ended up in Ifield and ended up ringing a taxi. But I got it all and got to work on time.

I worked on the new City Link website again today, it’s coming along nicely. More on that when it goes live.

Myself, DJ and Scott went to see Terminator: Salvation, I’ve been waiting to see the human Resistance battle Skynet in the future for about… 18 years.

I thought the new Terminators such as the Mototerminators, Harvesters and the T600, were in-keeping with the classic Terminator design and the Hunter Killer.

It was also really great to see the Terminator Hover Scout, which is a concept from the T2 3-D: Battle Across Time at Universal Studios.

Yeah, I’m going to bed. Nite.

I have a Time Trumpet!

Leyton Jay — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:01:33 +0000

I’ve just bought the BBC show Time Trumpet on DVD off Amazon. This much celebrated satirical comedy from the BBC is set in the future and looks forward with nostalgia on things that are yet to happen to today’s celebrities.

I never saw Time Trumpet when it was broadcast on the BBC in 2006 but I’ve seen a few clips on YouTube and on the Time Trumpet website.

I’m looking forward to seeing Time Trumpet as it features Stewart Lee and Richard Ayoade and was written by Alan Partridge co-creator Armando Ianucci, whom I consider to be a genius at writing, acting in and producing television and radio shows.

Many consider Time Trumpet to be on a par with The Day Today and Brass Eye; not sure about that, I’ll have to let you know when I see it.

Apparently this Time Trumpet DVD from the BBC lacks extra content and special features which disappointed some fans, meh. At £13 for 3 hours I can’t really complain.

SEE ALSO

Time Trumpet | Wikipedia

Atlantis repairs Hubble Space Telescope

Leyton Jay — Tue, 12 May 2009 00:55:31 +0000

The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched just a few hours ago from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-125; repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope (HST).

After the Columbia accident NASA demanded that the ability to evacuate to the International Space Station (ISS) was a necessity for any Shuttle mission.

Because of the differing orbits of the ISS and the HST, Atlantis would be unable to dock at the ISS should it run into difficulties. As a result this mission, also known as HST-SM4 (Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4), has been on hold since 2005.

Astronauts will conduct a series of spacewalks to repair malfunctioning gyroscopes on the HST which have left astronomers unable to train it on targets in the sky.

About HST

The Hubble Space Telescope was launched in 1990, named for the American Astronomer Edwin Hubble.

The HST orbits beyond earth’s atmosphere to prevent distortion and has allowed astronomers to see further into space in greater detail than ever before.

HST has a main mirror and 5 other instruments including a spectrograph for ascertaining the chemical composition of stars, a spectrometer for peering through dust clouds and an advanced camera for mapping dark matter.

Atlantis will use it’s robotic arm to catch the 11 ton, 16 metre long space telescope as the two orbit at a height of 600km above the earth.

Blurred Vision

Soon after HST’s launch in 1990 it was discovered that the $1.5 billion space telescope had blurry vision due to a defect on the 2.4 metre wide mirror. The HST’s mirror, almost 8ft in diameter, was not perfectly formed, it bulged by a fifth of the thickness of a human hair.

Despite the embarassment, NASA managed to design and install a giant contact lens which rectifies the light beam reflected off the mirror. This enhancement was called COSTAR (Corrective Optics Space Telescope Axial Replacement) but will be removed on this mission as, over time, the HST’s replacement parts have been manufactured to jointly compensate for the defect.

NGC 6543

This is a image from the Hubble Space Telescope of NGC 6543, a planetary nebula better known as the Cat’s Eye Nebule.

Planetary Nebula are formed as gasses are gently ejected from stars much like our own as they begin to fizzle-out.

v383 Monocerotis

This HST image shows a red supergiant shrowded in a cloud of dust like a giant eyeball.

The elements being burnt by a star determine it’s apparent colour. Red giants are red because they have burnt their supply of hydrogen (which gives the normal yellow colour) and have begun to burn Helium.

The Funniest Star Wars Spoof Video… Ever!

Leyton Jay — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:36:56 +0000

I’ve just found this Star Wars spoof video on YouTube, Snatch Wars (Snatch Vs Star Wars). It’s a mash-up of Star Wars and the cockney-gangster movie Snatch.

I’m a huge fan of the Guy Ritchie movie Snatch so I’m thinking this could be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on YouTube!

Casting Brick Top’s dialogue from Snatch over Darth Vader’s scenes from the original Star Wars Trilogy is pure genius.

However, when Darth Vader seemingly threatens to snap Leia’s “tarty-fuckin-legs off”, that audio was not taken from Snatch, but from Alan Ford’s performance on The Armando Ianucci Show. In that scene Alan Ford arrives at a woman’s home demanding to know whether she has read her copy of the Guardian Newspaper. He then threatens to send round “nutters, from Parkhurst”, (a top-security British prison) unless she fully digests every article. A great sample, expertly used.

Anyway, what do you think of Snatch Wars (Snatch Vs Star Wars)?

Man United Fan Recreates Wembley In His Lounge

Leyton Jay — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:03:48 +0000

A Manchester United fan, who couldn’t get tickets to see the reds face Spurs in the Carling Cup final tomorrow, has recreated Wembley Stadium in his front room.

Phil Spark, a Surveyor from Didsbury has decorated his lounge with crowd-wallpaper, fitted fake-turf carpet and installed a turnstile, stadium seating and a pie-heater borrowed from his local chippy.

Phil Spark had this to say about his football-front-room:

This is the next best thing to being there. I was gutted when I couldn’t get a ticket for the game but I’ve spent the last few weeks making sure I won’t miss any of the action or atmosphere.

Resources

Ryanair Considers Charging Passengers To Use Toilet

Leyton Jay — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 15:15:40 +0000

Is nothing sacred? Budget airline Ryanair is said to be considering charging passengers who use the toilet. Is that really what it’s come to? I think it’s absolutely disgusting.

My Reaction
I have always objected to paying to use the toilet in Victoria station and that’s only 40 pence, I’ve always thought the train companies should pay for Victoria station’s upkeep and facilities considering I have to pay over £20 to get into London before 9am and around 8 million people go into London everyday.

So Ryanair’s threat to charge customers to use the toilet is beyond ridiculous; the toilets are there, the crew will use them for free, there are no vagrant’s hanging around on plane’s and surely it is a basic human right?

Ryanair Business Model
Ryanair have in recent years opted to be so low budget that they’re essentially a bus-service in the skies. Ryanair passengers pay a low-cost fare onto which other extras like check-in and hold-luggage are added.

The toilet charge system being considered is essentially a £1 coin-slot on the aeroplane toilet door.

Passengers without change or with lots of children will kick-off about this I’m sure!

Legalities
According to Wikipedia’s article on pay toilets:

In the United Kingdom it is technically permitted to charge for use of toilets, but not for the use of urinals.

So does that mean that men wanting a wee on a plane FROM the UK would not have to pay? I would love to sue Ryanair for emotional distress or something because they broke this rule, it would serve them right.

Press Reaction
Rochelle Turner from Which? Holiday magazine had this to say about Ryanair’s toilet-fee proposal:

It seems Ryanair is prepared to plumb any depth to make a fast buck and, once again, is putting profit before the comfort of its customers.
Charging people to go to the toilet might result in fewer people buying overpriced drinks on board, though - that would serve Ryanair right.

I whole heartedly agree and I think this moves shows that Ryanair which is already proud to have a fleet of flying-sardine tins has no quarms about becoming the prison-ships of the sky.

Resources:

Ryanair mulls charge for toilets | BBC News

What do you think about Ryanair’s proposal to charge passengers to use the toilet?

Fun & Festivals 2009

Leyton Jay — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:35:13 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about the fun stuff I wanna do in 2009, it has to be at least as good as 2008; and that was brilliant!

The question is, can I afford it now that I’ve moved out?

Here’s some things I wanna do, they might not all be possible but it’s always good to have ideas:

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Party - February 2009
Comedy Club - Helen’s Birthday 2009
Amsterdam - March 2009
Pirates vs. Ninjas Party - April
City Break in Europe - May
Download Festival - 12-14 June 2009
Star Wars Garden Party - Mine & DJ’s Birthday- June 2009
Global Gathering Festival - 24-25 July 2009
Reading Festival - 28-30 August 2009
SoniSphere Festival - 1-2 August 2009
Amsterdam Dance Festival - 21-24 October 2009

Sound good?
What do you think?
Did I miss anything?

Where Do Satellites Go To Die? Silicon Heaven?

Leyton Jay — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:51:02 +0000

When satellites become damaged or reach the end of their operational life; what happens?

Basically, where do satellites go to die? The question itself reminds me of the Red Dwarf episode The Last Day in which the android Kryten questions his pre-installed belief in an electronic after-life.

No Silicon Heaven?! Preposterous! …where would all the calculators go?

So where do satellites go to die? Well when a satellite reaches the end of it’s operational lifespan, satellite operators have two options:

Guide a satellite into a graveyard-orbit.
Lay the satellite to rest in the spacecraft cemetery.

Graveyard Orbit

A graveyard orbit, also known as supersynchronous orbit, disposal orbit and junk orbit is much higher (further from the earth) than most satellite’s normal geosynchronous orbit.

In geosynchronous orbit a satellite will stay above one point on Earth, obviously essential for communications or weather satellites. As graveyard orbit is further from the Earth this lowers the risk of objects colliding.

Ironically recent findings suggest graveyard object are often broken apart by micro-meteorites and the fragments fall into operational orbit, endangering active satellites.

In 2002 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) declared that all US satellites ending their lifespan assume a graveyard orbit at least 300km higher than what they operated at. This is still presumed safer than ditching in the spacecraft cemetery.

Spacecraft Cemetery

The spacecraft cemetery is a remote area in the South Pacific Ocean almost halfway between New Zealand and America where damaged or defunct satellites are crashed into the ocean.

The most notable resident of the spacecraft cemetery is the Mir Space Station which was deliberately burnt up in the atmosphere in March 2001; any debris would’ve landed in the cemetery region. Crashing into the spacecraft cemetery is still unpredictable and risky, so it’s only an option for large, decaying objects or satellites that don’t have enough fuel to boost to graveyard orbit.

Recent Satellite Collision

Recently an American communications satellite collided in orbit with a defunct Russian communications satellite in the biggest such incident on record. The incident occured at an altitude of 800km, above Siberia, Russia on Tuesday.

NASA is said to be tracking the fragments with great interest because the International Space Station (ISS) is 465km below the course of the debris field created by the collision. However, Nasa said risk was small and with acceptable limits.

Collision Highlights Need For Monitoring

This graphic from the European Space Agency (ESA) illustrates how crowded the skies of our planet are nowadays.

There are currently 17,000 man-made objects (larger than 10cm) in Earth orbit and around 10,000 are space-junk. Space-junk poses a collision risk to satellites and space-vehicles but also to us here on Earth in a scary ‘death from above‘ type way. So there is clearly a need for monitoring.

Satellite Resources:

Download 2009 Looks Amazing! 2008 Was Awful!

Leyton Jay — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 21:44:09 +0000

I’ve just checked out the line up for the UK’s premier Rock/Metal festival, Download 2009 and it’s gooood!

Download 2009 Line Up

Confirmed at Download 2009 as of 11th Feb are SlipKnot, The Prodigy, Motley Crue, Korn, Pendulum, Dragonforce and Devildriver.

Confirmed at Download 2009 as of 16th Feb are Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Limp Bizkit and Trivium.

Confirmed at Download 2009 as of 20th Feb are ZZ Top, Marilyn Manson and Killswitch Engage.

According to Wikipedia, Lamb of God have confirmed themselves that they’ll be at Download 2009.

I don’t care about Motley Crue or Korn, but SlipKnot, The Prodigy, Pendulum, Dragonfoce and Devildriver has just sold Download 2009 to me already. Thats already better than the entire line up at last year’s Download Festival.

I was in two minds about going (I’ve been to 5 of the 6; I’m oldskool), but now I’m definitely going to Download 2009.

Download 2009 Resources

Download 2008 Was Awful

Download 2008 had the most unimpressive line up ever and the highest ticket price, which is why we, for the first time since it started in 2003, avoided it like the plague.

The poor line up at Download 2008 and the poor standard of camping, security and parking in 2007 meant that we really didn’t want to pay the ridiculous price of a Weekend Ticket +Camping last year. Instead we went to Global Gathering and the Reading festival.

I was told by people who went to Download 2008, experienced festival goers who’ve been to every Download, that we “didn’t miss much”.

Other Festivals

As hardcore as the Download festival is, there are other festivals out there you know?! Don’t forget that.

I’ve probably seen more bands and ruled more mosh-pits than alot of people who claim to be metallers and I tell you that Download is by no-means the be-all and end-all.

Wearing heavy leather trenchcoats and a frown in the height of summer isn’t what festivals are about. There are other brilliant festivals that even a metaller would love!

Global Gathering 2008 was the most euphoric festival I’ve ever been to! Everyone seemed happy, the people were good-looking and the balance of men to women was almost 50:50.

It was beautiful, sunbathing all day, then dancing til 5am to the world’s best DJs. My Global Gathering Review »

Reading Festival 2008 was immense, heavy and happy with a fantastic and diverse line up, with much better facilities and stage layouts than ever before. Scroobius Pip & Dan Le Sac, Rage Against The Machine, The Prodigy and Hadouken! (again). My Reading ‘Buttscratcher!’ Video »

What do you think of the Download 2009 line up?
Which festivals do you prefer?

The Twitter-Effect Can Crash Sites, Bigtime!

Leyton Jay — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:54:09 +0000

If a link to your website is bounced around twitter enough times by enough people, the increased visitor traffic can crash your server! This is known as The Twitter-Effect, but it was known as the slash-dot-Effect and the Digg-Effect long before now.

Depending on how many followers you have and how many followers your followers and so on; the effect can be quite devastating. Not all webservers are equip to deal with the number of web pages that are suddenly being requested and will either crash of leave excess requests unanswered.

It seems the problems of sudden increases in traffic from social networking will always be known as the [whatever-the-buzz-at-the-moment-is]-Effect.

But apparently the Twitter-Effect is actually becoming a problem for some smaller websites and has allegedly been the cause of recent crashes of BIG servers. Moments ago a Yahoo blog about them joining twitter went down because of the Twitter-Effect. Ironic.

The Short Lifespan of a Premier League Manager

Leyton Jay — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 10:27:25 +0000

The Premiership is a competitive league, there’s many different people’s fortunes ridding on every result, no matter how minor.

But in the last few years the average lifespan of a new Premier League Manager has become shockingly short with big names being sacked right, left and centre.

MANAGERIAL DEPARTURES 2008-09
Sep 3: Alan Curbishley - West Ham
Sep 4: Kevin Keegan - Newcastle
Oct 25: Juande Ramos - Tottenham
Oct 26: Harry Redknapp - Portsmouth
Dec 4: Roy Keane - Sunderland
Dec 16: Paul Ince - Blackburn
Feb 9: Tony Adams - Portsmouth
Feb 9: Luiz Felipe Scolari - Chelsea

Yesterday Chelsea sacked their manager Luiz Felipe Scolari just over seven months after he got the job. This is due chiefly to Scolari presiding over a nil nil draw with Hull last weekend, but Chelsea have not been doing too bad surely?

With 44 points in 25 games, 4th place Chelsea are 7 points behind the leaders Man U and 5 points clear of 5th place Arsenal. Thats not bad work from Scolari is it?

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich seems to think so, he has now overseen the departure of four managers since his arrival in 2003. He obviously demands world-class results and is prepared to be ruthless about it; is that a bad thing?

Reaction to Scolari’s sacking has varied, with many saying it’s too soon (such as Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson) and others noting how edgy the fans have become in the last few games (former Chelsea Manager John Hollins).

So is it just a popularity contest? Is it all about keeping the fans happy?

Portsmouth dismissed manager Tony Adams yesterday also, he’s had a terrible run of luck, winning just 2 out of the last 16 games.

But apparently Pompey fans were still behind Tony Adams for trying his best to clean up after Harry Redknapp’s shock departure in October.

But other managers like Wenger and Ferguson have been with their clubs for decades and have not always had the best results. Is there some kind of reverse-honeymoon-period where after a certain amount of time managers are too entrenched in team mythology to be sacked?

Where is this pressure to perform coming from and is it unfair?

Tell me what you think….

Microsoft Update Destroys Xboxes

Leyton Jay — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:12:37 +0000

Xbox 360 users around the globe are complaining that Microsoft’s recent update to the leading gaming console is causing catastrophic hardware failures, or as it’s commonly known; the Red Ring of Death.

Microsoft issued the update to Xbox 360 via the console’s dashboard to fix certain HDMI related sound problems; so far over 200 users have complained that it has made their Xboxes unusable.

The Red Ring of Death is the unofficial name given to the red indicator lights on the Xbox 360 case that indicates a general hardware failure.

Sadly I can’t find the exact update number or date it was released but I can tell you it’s quite recent.

Microsoft has so far not issued an official response to the complaints which is not suprising as the spontaneous appearance of the Red Ring of Death has plagued Microsoft Support since they released the Xbox 360 console.

However Technology News Website Electric Pig contact Microsoft about the problem and a Microsoft spokesperson had this to say:

We are always taking steps to ensure our customers have the best experience on Xbox 360 and we have a detailed and comprehensive test and acceptance plan for our software updates to the console. If you are having any problems, please contact your local support so that we can assist you.

Source: Electric Pig

Overheating is a common cause of Red Ring of Death or RROD as it’s known. Though for most users overheating merely limits their Xbox’s processing power, which in-turn interrupts gameplay.

Microsoft’s general policy on the Red Ring of Death is to deny that there is a problem. But Xbox 360 hardware problems are so common that they even have an entire Wikipedia entry devoted to them.

Top Celebrity Twitters!

Leyton Jay — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 15:20:19 +0000

For sometime now I’ve been using the micro-blogging service twitter which allows you to enter a 140 character message (a tweet) about what you’re upto.

Twitter users can follow other users (friends, organisations, companies, celebrities, etc) so that their updates appear in your newsfeed. You can also disseminate your tweets to other sites/networks.

For example I use an app to feed my tweets into facebook to update my status automatically and it updates my website’s tagline. Check out my twitter http://twitter.com/leyton_jay.

Last Monday (Feb 2 2009) The Times Online published a list of the 50 most followed celebrity twitters.

Stephen Fry tops the list unsurprisingly; the QI host tweets dozens of times everyday and uses the excellent twitpic to mash photos from his iPhone into his twitter feed.

I’ve been following Stephen Fry’s twitter for sometime now and it’s really good, he has a keen interest in technology and is always rubbing shoulders with interesting people.

Stephen Fry’s twitter-addiction recently became big news when he was trapped in a lift for several hours at London’s Centre Point tower.

Stephen used twitpic to post photos of him and the other stranded passengers and his twitter followers replied and entertained him until he was rescued. The event even made the TV and radio news because so many people became aware of it.

Anyway, here’s my top celebrity twitters from The Times Online’s list:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
http://twitter.com/schwarzenegger
actor, politician, 11147 followers.
Boris Johnson
http://twitter.com/MayorOfLondon
Politician, columnist, 2281 followers.
Charlie Brooker
http://twitter.com/charltonbrooker
writer, satirist, 5338 followers.
David Mitchell
http://twitter.com/RealDMitchell
writer, actor, comedian, 5465 followers.
Elijah Wood
http://twitter.com/elijahwood
actor, 2118 followers.
Graham Linehan
http://twitter.com/Glinner
writer, actor, comedian, 4071 followers.
Jamie Oliver
http://twitter.com/Jamie_Oliver
TV Chef, 2140 followers.
Jimmy Carr
http://twitter.com/jimmycarr
comedian, 8827 followers.
Jonathon Ross
http://twitter.com/Wossy
presenter, comedian followers.
Kevin Smith
http://twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith
witer, actor, 8379 followers.
Rob Brydon
http://twitter.com/RealRobBrydon
actor, comedian, 4673 followers.
Snoop Doggy Dogg
https://twitter.com/snoopdogg
rapper, 7549 followers.
Stephen Fry
http://twitter.com/stephenfry
comedian, actor, presenter, witty bore, 98,616 followers.
William Shatner
http://twitter.com/WilliamShatner
actor, legend, 7599 followers.

Mapvertising on Google Earth

Leyton Jay — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:58:16 +0000

Last month I wrote a post about KFC’s Mapvertised Logo in the Nevada Desert. But here’s another two great examples of Mapvertising on Google Earth; in Iquique, Chile and on Bondi Beach, Australia.

Coca-Cola Mapvertising
This piece of Mapvertising was created by Coca-Cola for their 100 year anniversary in 1992. It’s made entirely of Coca Cola Bottles and was built to be visible from the road and to aircraft rather than satellites.

The 400ft wide mapvertised Coca Cola logo sits on the road to Iquique, Chile; one of Coca-Cola’s main bottling factories is South America.

This piece of Coca Cola Mapvertising is at -18.53 degrees latitude and -70.25 degrees longitude.

Mapvertised Coca Cola Logo in Iquique on Google Maps

austalia.com Mapvertising
This piece of mapvertising was written in the sand on Bondi Beach, Australia and was paid for my the Australian tourist board to promote australia.com.

This piece of australia.com Mapvertising is at -33.8913 degrees latitude and 151.2766 degrees longitude.

Mapvertised Coca Cola Logo in Iquique on Google Maps

Snow Ain’t All Bad…

Leyton Jay — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 10:13:05 +0000

Great Britain is current enduring the heaviest snow fall in six years with millions of people affected. London’s entire bus network has been suspended due to heavy snowfall, with many dozens of train services into the capital being cancelled. But here’s a photo of some fit girls in bikinis in the snow to make everything better.

It snowed in Crawley yesterday afternoon but barely stuck in Langley Green; though Chris reported a blizzard on the other side of town in Maidenbower. But snow fell rapidly as soon as the sun set and the temperature dropped.

This morning London is reporting over 10cm of snowfall, with Luton reporting 13cm of snow. Many schools and roads have been closed, our office here at Rentokil Initial is virtually deserted either through people’s inability to get to work or having to stay home and look after their kids.

The Gatwick Express train service is not running and London City and Southampton Airports are shut due to heavy snowfall. Heathrow and Gatwick are operating a highly reduced service with the majority of flights being cancelled or delayed due to snowed-over runways.

The UK MetOffice has issued a severe weather warning, especially in the South-East of England which has had the heaviest snow. The MetOffice are advising on what to do in heavy snow and icy roads also.

Please send in your snow photos and I will publish them here!

Red Dwarf Is Back… On Dave?

Leyton Jay — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 00:28:31 +0000

Red Dwarf will soon to return to our screens 21 years after it first aired on the BBC.

But Red dwarf will not return on the BBC, but on digital TV channel Dave.

The episode is entitled Back to Earth; and will as you might’ve guessed see the Red Dwarf crew finally return to Earth.

An article by BBC News about the return of Red Dwarf states:

…the [Red Dwarf] new show reunites the line-up, including Coronation Street’s Craig Charles.

Red Dwarf’s AI computer, named Holly, was portrayed by Norman Lovett in the first two and last two series of Red Dwarf. I would assume therefore that Red Dwarf: Back To Earth will star Norman Lovett as opposed to Hattie Hayridge who played Holly for 3 series (III-V).

The return of Red Dwarf to TV in time for the 21st anniversary is part of a drive by Dave to broadcast more original programming, rather than just repeats. Dave is a joint venture between Virgin Media and the BBC. The BBC presumably do all the programme making and Virgin Media provide the broadcast medium for them both to earn revenue from advertising.

Original Programming By Dave
Also part of the original programming initiative by Dave are the shows Argumental, Batteries Not Included and Car of the Year 2008.

In our house we quite enjoy Argumental on Dave; chaired by the charming John Sergeant with the sometimes amusing Marcus Brigstocke and awesome Rufus Hound as team captains.

However, Dave’s Batteries Not Included was literally unwatchable and tarnished the previously unblemished career of one of my comedy heroes, John Cleese. And I refused to watch Dave’s Car of the Year 2008 because it starred Johnny Vaughan. Don’t even get me started on Johnny Vaughan. Johnny Vaughan and Noel Edmonds have got it coming.

Red Dwarf: Back To Earth Details
The 4-part Red Dwarf Easter Special entitled Red Dwarf: Back To Earth will premier on Dave on Friday 10th April at 9pm.

Red Dwarf: Back To Earth Resources

Bill Buchanan Annoys Me!

Leyton Jay — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:32:52 +0000

I’ve just watched the third and fourth episodes of 24, Day 7 which aired in the UK on Sky 1 on Monday 19th Jan 2008.

Throughout this stunning panorama of terrorist-flavoured drama, Bill Buchanan (former Head of CTU) did fuck all to protect Jack Bauer.

But now, without the actual authority of CTU to back him up he seems so arrogant, check out Bill Buchanan’s current Wikipedia photo; he thinks he’s well good.

Tonight Bill Buchanan twice passed up opportunities to stop Jack Bauer being killed. He did nothing, twice!.

Since CTU was shut down at the end of Day 6 Bill Buchanan and Chloe O’Brian have formed a make-shift, basement-style CTU. But Bill still thinks he’s in a multi-million dollar Command Center.

Fair enough that he was protecting Tony Almeida’s cover, but he could’ve done something, told someone, arranged something to improve Jack’s chances of survival.

At one point the ever-faithful Chloe O’Brian was so adamant that they should intervene I thought the next twist would be Chloe going over Bill’s head and blurting out the truth to Jack via radio. I have always said that though she’s a face-pulling, whiney voiced data-miner, Chloe O’Brian can always be relied upon to do the right thing or come through for you when you need it.

I would’ve loved to see Chloe screw Buchanan over, I mean they’re running a renegade operation; he’s not paying her, what’s he gonna do? He can’t do anything himself, he was just standing up the whole episode, I don’t think he even sat at a computer once. He doesn’t seem to want to lift a finger unless he’s being paid to do so.

Conclusion
Bill Buchanan is cheap, soft, lazy, only in it for the money and thinks he’s well good.

24 Resources

Tony Hart Is Dead :(

Leyton Jay — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 11:10:25 +0000

Tony Hart died yesterday aged 83.

The lovable British artist turned Childrens TV presenter inspired children allover the world to paint and draw for almost 50 years, what a legend.

I watched Tony Hart when I was a kid and found his shows hugely entertaining. Tony Hart’s gentle manner and wise years made him one of the best presenters ever to have graced our screens.

TV Career
Tony Hart broke into television in 1952 after drawing a fish on a napkin at a party that was also attended by a BBC producer (if only it was that easy now!).

Tony Hart went on to appear in Saturday Special, Playbox, Titch and Quackers, Vision On, Take Hart, Hartbeat, Artbox Bunch and Smart Hart.

From the 1970s, Tony Hart’s show would often include the animated Plasticine character Morph.
Morph was was produced for the BBC by Aardman Animations who later became famous for Wallace and Gromit.

Tony Hart is also famous for designing the Blue Peter logo and badge.

Tony Hart received two BAFTAs and a Lifetime Achievement Award before his retirement in 2001.

Poor Health
In an interview with The Times on Dec 30th 2008 Tony Hart revealed that two strokes had robbed him of the use of his hands and was now unable to draw.
He described this as:

…the greatest cross I have to bear.

Tony Hart died peacefully on the morning of Jan 18th 2009, his is survived by his daughter Carolyn and two grandchildren.

Tony Hart Tributes
Tony Hart’s friend Wilf Lunn who starred in Vision On said of Tony:

His legacy was the fact he really started all these children’s programmes, Art Attack and all that, and he was the guy, right at the beginning …he was such a nice man.

Fellow artist Rolf Harris called Hart:

…a very gentle and talented guy.

Tony Hart Before TV
Before his break into television Tony Hart served in the Indian Army in the 1st Gurkha Rifles Regiment until 1947.

I have an even deeper respect for Tony Hart now; the Gurkha’s are world renowned as being amongst the toughest and most determinded Army Regiments in the world.
Tony Hart served in 1 Gurkha Rifles, the most prestigious of all the Gurkha Regiments.

Tony Hart Resources

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